Lewis Hamilton leads Mercedes one-two at the end of disrupted final day of F1 pre-season testing

Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time on the final day of Formula 1’s pre-season testing ahead of team-mate George Russell to seal a Mercedes one-two over Red Bull.

Russell had been the quickest around the track in a heavily-disrupted morning session but his new team-mate took first from him in the final minutes of the afternoon session. 

The British driver, along with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, wasted no time in getting out on the track on the third day in Barcelona and ended up top for Mercedes with a time of 1m 19.233s, half a second clear of the world champion. 

But Hamilton knocked Russell from the top spot with a flying time of 1m1 9.141s in the afternoon, scraping 0.003s off his time.

The British driver finished half a second clear of world champion Max Verstappen

But events at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Friday morning were dominated by no fewer than five stoppages. 

Fernando Alonso was the first to be forced off the track after smoke was seen billowing from the back of his car as he pulled into the gravel.

Alpine then tweeted that they had suffered a hydraulics issue and would not be running for the rest of the day.

‘After further investigations in the garage following Fernando Alonso’s on-track stoppage earlier this morning, the team can confirm the issue was a problem with the hydraulics. A minor sealing issue led to a fire in the back of the car.

‘The team has successfully completed 266 laps during the three days of the Barcelona shakedown. 

Fernando Alonso was the first of five stoppages that took place on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya

Pierre Gasly then came to a halt and caused red flags to be waved after he hit the barrier

‘Repairs on the car will continue, and as a result we won’t be running for the remainder of the day. We look forward to be back in action at the next test in Bahrain.’

Pierre Gasly then came to a halt and caused red flags to be waved after he hit the barrier in the middle sector, meaning his AlphaTauri had to be recovered while marshals cleared the debris. 

Guanyu Zhou then caused another two red flags after spinning his Alfa Romeo at turn 10, before another technical issue once again brought the session to a halt.

Sebastian Vettel then had a stoppage at the end which appeared to have been caused by an engine issue.

Guanyu Zhou then caused another two red flags, including spinning his Alfa Romeo at turn 10

Haas’s Nikita Mazepin had to cut his session short due to an oil leak this morning and his team-mate Mick Schumacher was unable to get in the car in the afternoon.

Haas pulled out for the day, confirming that they would not return for the afternoon session. 

The team’s official account tweeted: ‘Whilst we’d hoped that the car would be able to return this afternoon, the repair work is going to take several more hours, so unfortunately we will not be back on track today.’ 

Haas’s Nikita Mazepin had to cut his session short due to an oil leak this morning

It comes after an action-packed day two in which Charles Leclerc was the fastest driver to put Ferrari first Wednesday, while Lando Norris topped the timesheets on the opening day.

It is the first of two testing events, with the second taking place a week before the season-opener in Bahrain next month at the same circuit in Sakhir, which hosted last year’s pre-season testing.  

All 10 teams will have had three days by the end of Friday to test their 2022 cars amid the biggest overhaul of regulations in F1 history as the sport aims for more competitive wheel-to-wheel racing and overtaking opportunities.  

With nine out of 10 teams having already launched their spanking new models – Alfa Romeo will use an interim livery in Catalunya before their launch on Sunday – the talk of the town is to expect the unexpected.   

Sebastian Vettel then had a stoppage at the end which appeared to have been caused by an engine issue