Lotus quickest in final Barcelona test outing

Lotus test driver Jolyon Palmer ended the final day of the Formula 1 in-season test on top courtesy of a late run on super soft tyres at Barcelona.

The reigning GP2 champion chalked up 85 laps at the Circuit de Catalunya posting a session best of 1:26.080s in the final 20 minutes of the test.

Palmer’s effort was 0.4s quicker than Mercedes’ Pascal Wehrlein, although the Brit’s time was more than 1.7s shy of Nico Rosberg’s 1:24.374s set on Tuesday.

Wehrlein, who was ruled out of the test on Tuesday due to illness, managed to complete 137 untroubled laps despite feeling the effects of a fever.

GP2 rising star Pierre Gasly made an impressive debut for Red Bull Racing which saw the Frenchman finish third fastest just 0.6s adrift of Palmer’s Lotus.

It proved to be an encouraging day for McLaren as Jenson Button completed 100 laps with his best time just 0.8s adrift.

Alex Lynn assisted Williams with aero and chassis work on his testing debut for the Grove squad, which culminated in the GP3 champion setting the fifth quickest time.

Reigning FIA European F3 champion Esteban Ocon delivered a strong performance on his late call up to the test by guiding his Force India to sixth.

Former Sauber driver Esteban Gutierrez was seventh for Ferrari with the Maranello team 1.8s off the pace, while Carlos Sainz Jr was eighth for Toro Rosso.

Raffaele Marciello endured a tough day behind the wheel of the Sauber C34 which saw him damage the front left of his car in a crash at Turn 3.

The Swiss squad ended the day ninth with the Ferrari young driver 2.7s behind the Lotus.

Result: Formula 1 Test day 2, Barcelona 

Position	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Laps
1	Jolyon Palmer	Lotus/Mercedes	1:26.080s		87
2	Pascal Wehrlein	Mercedes	1:26.497s	+0.417s	137
3	Pierre Gasly	Red Bull/Renault	1:26.683s	+0.603s	75
4	Jenson Button	McLaren/Honda	1:26.927s	+0.847s	100
5	Alex Lynn	Williams/Mercedes	1:26.967s	+0.887s	52
6	Esteban Ocon	Force India/Mercedes	1:27.520s	+1.440s	94
7	Esteban Gutierrez	Ferrari	1:27.930s	+1.850s	119
8	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso/Renault	1:27.997s	+1.917s	126
9	Raffaele Marciello	Sauber/Ferrari	1:28.829s	2.749s	75