February 26, 2018 Charles Côté 0

Brendon Hartley runs world champion Lewis Hamilton close in F1 testing

The 28-year-old clocked the eighth fastest time on the first full day of testing and was second only (with 93) to Australian Daniel Ricciardo (105) in the number of laps completed in the opening run of this week’s four-day session.

Hartley’s Red Bull racing rival Ricciardo also recorded the fastest time – 2.192sec better than Hartley’s quickest lap of one minute and 22.371sec.

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Hartley made his Formula One debut last year.

The New Zealander’s best time was just a fraction behind Britain’s Hamilton, who could only manage 25 laps in a Mercedes as rain and cold track temperatures made conditions poor.

Hamilton finished sixth fastest in one minute and 22.327sec – less than one-hundredths of a second quicker than Hartley, whose team have opted for a Honda engine after encountering problems with Renault.

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Defending Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton was just faster than Hartley.

“The driveability of the engine is one of the best I’ve driven in a Formula One car, so it was really positive in all aspects. Absolutely no complaints from me,” Hartley told reporters of his Toro Rosso.

“Balance-wise, we were pretty comfortable straight away but I still think there’s potential to unlock.”

There’s one more round of testing in Barcelona – a second four-day session will be held from March 6-9 – before Formula One’s first Grand Prix of the season in Melbourne on March 25.

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Hartley’s Toro Rosso on the track in Barcelona.

Hartley, who hails from Palmerston North, is expecting a healthy following across the Tasman at the opening race of his first full season in Formula One.

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He became New Zealand’s first Formula One driver in 33 years in his debut last season at the United States Grand Prix in Texas in October.

“When I was home in New Zealand every second of third person I ran into told me they were coming to Melbourne and they’d be there supporting me with the NZ flag,” he said.

“I think that’s going to be quite special for me looking around the crowd and seeing a few flags.

“I’ve never had that before and it’s the closest I’ve raced to home in a long, long time.”

AT A GLANCE

Fastest times from day one of testing in Barcelona

1. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Red Bull-Renault – One minute and 20.179sec
2. Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Mercedes – 1:20.349
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari – 1:20.506
4. Nico Hulkenberg (Germany) Renault – 1:20.547
5. Carlos Sainz (Spain) Renault – 1:22.168
6. Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain) Mercedes – 1:22.327
7. Fernando Alonso (Spain) McLaren-Renault – 1:22.354
8. Brendon Hartley (New Zealand) Toro Rosso-Honda – 1:22.371
9. Lance Stroll (Canada) Williams-Mercedes – 1:22.452
10. Romain Grosjean (France) Haas-Ferrari – 1:22.578
11. Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) Sauber-Ferrari – 1:23.408
12. Nikita Mazepin (Russia) Force India-Mercedes – 1:25.628
13. Sergey Sirotkin (Russia) Williams-Mercedes – 1:44.418

– Stuff

Source :Stuff.co.nz

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Charles Côté Motorsports are the ultimate connection between man and machine. My passion has become my job. As chief editor of RNW, I look forwards to sharing my love of racing with you.