Renault leads on final day of F1 testing but not without reliability concerns

Nico Hulkenberg topped the chart by the end of the first preseason Formula 1 test in Barcelona, but it hasn’t been all smooth sailing for Renault.

Renault may have established the headline-grabbing times, but their track time was severely limited as the usual testing gremlins revealed themselves in short order. The clearest example of this came when, with an hour left on the clock, Nico Hulkenberg stopped on the track, prompting a red flag.

Completing just 58 laps between Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo, Williams was the only team that spent less time on track, having its own very public problems throughout the four days.

Mercedes began to ease its way up the order. Finding themselves well down across the first three days, Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton ended the day fourth and fifth respectively. In comparison, Charles Leclerc scored only the sixth fastest time of the day for a Ferrari team who topped the tables on days one and two.

Having set his fastest first two sectors of the test, Hamilton saw his hot lap attempt ended early as he had to take drastic avoiding action to prevent him from rear-ending the Williams of Robert Kubica –- the Polish driver making a rare trip out on the track.

The day ended with Antonio Giovinazzi bringing out the red flag. Having completed 154 laps across the day, the most of any individual driver, Giovinazzi stopped at the end of pit lane as he headed out for one final glory run. It was just the second red flag caused by Alfa Romeo after Kimi Raikkonen spun into the gravel on day one.