Vettel Almost as Fast as Hamilton in 2018

The winter tests in Barcelona are over, and the real action can finally start on March 17th in Melbourne. But before we go “down under” let’s have a look at some stats from the test in Barcelona.

Vettel and Leclerc Strong

So far, it looks like the regulators failed in their good intentions. At least, when it comes to limiting the speed at the Ferrari team, as Ferrari seems to have found a solution to compensate for the new aerodynamic disadvantages.  

Vettel and his teammate Charles Leclerc were able to dominate most of the important test data from Barcelona. Both were the fastest each – twice on separate testing days. Carlos Sainz (McLaren), Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso), Lando Norris (McLaren) and Nico Hulkenberg made it to the top on the other days of the eight days of testing.  

When it comes to average scores, Vettel, again occupied the top of the list with an average position of 2.6 on all test dates. Lewis Hamilton was ranked 18th with an average of 8th place (8.63).  

Mercedes – A Secret Winner?

Having said this, Mercedes scored the best record for most laps run. With 5,539 kilometers, the Silver Arrows managed to score the highest number of laps of all teams.

Ferrari had 898 kilometers less mileage than the Mercedes team – still not bad! The least test mileage of all teams was recorded by Williams with 2,639 kilometers.

This is especially disadvantageous for Robert Kubica, who hasn’t been part of the F1 business for more than eight years. The Pole was able to just complete 1,248 kilometers due to a delayed testing program by his team – Williams.  

Other Statistics

Lewis Hamilton scored the most mileage with 2970 kilometers with Valtteri Bottas coming in second (2570 kilometers). Despite some reliability problems Vettel recorded 2,486 kilometers for his team which made him third in the mileage ranking.    

Test kilometers run by team:
1. Mercedes 5.539
2. Ferrari 4.641
3. Renault 4.473
4. Toro Rosso 4.352
5. Alfa Romeo 4.292
6. McLaren 4.064
7. Haas F1 4.055
8. Red Bull 3.878
9. Racing Point 2.909
10. Williams 2.639  

Test kilometer run by driver:
1. Lewis Hamilton 2.970
2. Valtteri Bottas 2.570
3. Sebastian Vettel 2.486
4. Nico Hülkenberg 2.369
5. Kimi Raikkönen 2.314
6. Alexander Albon 2.276
7. Carlos Sainz Jr. 2.202
8. Charles Leclerc 2.155
9. Daniel Ricciardo 2.104
10. Daniil Kvyat 2.076
11. Pierre Gasly 2.044
12. Antonio Giovinazzi 1.978
13. Romain Grosjean 1.895
14. Kevin Magnussen 1.876
15. Lando Norris 1.862
16. Max Verstappen 1.834
17. Lance Stroll 1.564
18. George Russell 1.392
19. Sergio Perez 1.345
20. Robert Kubica 1.248
21. Pietro Fittipaldi 284