Australia’s Mark Webber clocked the best time of the day at a rain-swept Barcelona as the final pre-season test of the winter endured a soggy start on Thursday.
The Red Bull driver timed 1min 22.693sec in the afternoon session after the morning action saw drivers tentatively tackle a Catalunya circuit made treacherous by heavy rain.
“It was pretty heavy, I must say. There was a big tailwind down to Turn One,” he said.
“And in other sections it was pretty dusty. The level of wind wasn’t trivial but to be honest it was tricky enough anyway because of the greasy conditions on the track. We only got one hour at the end of the day in more stable conditions.”
Former world champion Lewis Hamilton had been quickest in the morning but even his 1min 41.614sec, off a modest total of 43 laps in his Mercedes, was a long way off the times set at the same circuit last week.
Hamilton eventually put in 113 laps, the most of any driver and improved his time to 1min 24.348 in the afternoon with France’s Jean-Eric Vergne, in a Toro Rosso, the third fastest in 1:25.017.