Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari topped the timesheets on the penultimate day of pre-season testing of the 2018 Formula 1 Season. Vettel smashed the lap record of the Circuit De Barcelona-Catalunya track on the new hypersoft compound tyres. The record is unofficial as lap times set during testing are not recognized.

Formula 1 Testing – Sebastian Vettel Quickest On Day 3 Of Second Test

All the teams piled on the laps as they concentrated on the long runs today. The teams did 100+ laps each. Ferrari led the way with a stunning 188 laps. McLaren was back on track with 151 laps. This was a much needed turnaround after their recent reliability woes.

Mercedes, as is their practice during testing, concentrated on the long runs on the harder tyres. Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas combined to do 181 laps. They were both sitting eighth and ninth on the leaderbaord in terms of lap times.

Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing continued their consistent run in testing with 187 laps today. Kevin Magnussen (Haas) and Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso) were second and third on the timesheets on the supersoft and hypersoft compound tyres respectively.

Testing today was all about reliability and mileage than speed. However, Ferrari was more than one second quicker than the rest. The Australian GP (March 23-25, 2018) is just two weeks away. One final day of testing at Barcelona tomorrow and the teams will head to Melbourne after that.