Hulkenberg leads the first week of F1 testing in Barcelona

Daniel Ricciardo had signed the second fastest time of the morning for Renault, but his teammate Hulkenberg shone when he took the reins Thursday afternoon.

Using Pirelli's softer tires, the C5, he clocked the fastest time in 1m17.393 with an hour and a half left, 0.244 faster than Alex Albon's efforts.

But the Renault stopped on the track soon after, which means that the team has completed only 58 laps, the lowest number of all teams of the day.

Albon kept second place for Toro Rosso with his morning hour, which, combined with Daniil Kvyat's effort on Wednesday afternoon, means that the team holds the second and third rounds of the test.

Ricciardo only covered 34 laps, but established the fastest intermediate sector to reinforce Hulkenberg's glory in the final sector. Albon denied Renault a fair play because it was the fastest sector.

After lunch, Valtteri Bottas took over the Mercedes from Lewis Hamilton. Although the team completed fewer laps than other days, it kept its promise to improve its performance. Like the next three drivers, Bottas used the C5 tire to set a record of 1m17.8578 – Mercedes' best time in Barcelona this year.

In the morning, Lewis Hamilton led the W10 at 1m17.977, which turned out to be the fastest time on the C4 tire, which meant the two Mercedes cars were in the 1m17 for the first time this week.

Charles Leclerc completed the top six for Ferrari, his best time in C3 – a compound harder than that used by the drivers in front of him.

A late lap on the C4 tire gave McLaren his best test lap between Lando Norris. The pace of the MCL34's long run has improved since the start of the week, but questions remain as to its match with the midfielder on longer runs.

Antonio Giovinazzi impressed for Alfa Romeo, as if his best time was only enough to finish seventh, the long-term pace of the car seems to be leading the pack behind the big three Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes.

Giovinazzi's Alfa Romeo car stopped twice on the track in the last 15 minutes, bringing two consecutive red flags.

The teammates of Haas, Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen, set the eighth and ninth best times of the day, while Magnussen went back to running in the car after a problem of support. head off Tuesday morning.

After breaking down three times on Wednesday, the car seemed to be working well throughout the day, with the team making more than 100 laps again.

Pierre Gasly completed the top 10, but his long races were impressive compared to that of the Ferrari, which was designated as the car to beat during these tests by Helmut Marko, Red Bull motor sport advisor, and the Mercedes driver from Bottas.

Racing Point has again lost ground and has not yet exceeded 80 laps in a day. Lance Stroll took the wheel and signed the 12th time.

After making more laps than Renault, Williams found himself at 1.333 from Stroll at the hands of George Russell in the afternoon.

The reigning Formula 2 champion allowed the team to complete 62 laps, while Robert Kubica took his first steps in the car in the morning.