Jerez Testing – Day 4 (morning): Räikkönen leads at midday, Kvyat and Red Bull break down

The start of the last day of private testing in Jerez took place on a wet track. All drivers therefore made their first outing on intermediate tires provided by Pirelli.

Present today in Spain are Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Felipe Massa (Williams), Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull), Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari), Jenson Button (McLaren), Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso), Romain Grosjean (Lotus), and Marcus Ericsson (Sauber).

Yesterday’s day ended with the surprising best time set by the Sauber of Felipe Nasr, and his teammate Marcus Ericsson also seems keen to achieve a good lap time as he tears up the track at the start of the session, consistently closing in on the provisional best time held by Daniil Kvyat in his Red Bull.

But the Russian will inadvertently cause the first red flag of the day, a little before 10 a.m. His Red Bull comes to a halt in a gravel trap following a technical issue. Clearly, the newcomer in the Austrian team is not lucky, and the team is accumulating significant delays.

After the Red Bull was towed to its pit, the track is open again for the drivers who take their turns one after the other. Max Verstappen, Kimi Räikkönen, and finally Lewis Hamilton exchange the best time. The Mercedes driver is the most consistent and his car doesn’t seem to have any major issues.

Jenson Button, Romain Grosjean, and Felipe Massa have so far driven very little this morning. The Brazilian was waiting in his garage for the track to improve, which happened around 11 o’clock. He set off for several laps, imitated by the French driver. The McLaren, after a single installation lap at the beginning of the morning, has not returned to the track.

That’s when Lewis Hamilton spins at the chicane, causing a second red flag. After his car is brought back to his garage and the green flag is raised, Kimi Räikkönen takes advantage to snatch the best time from the Englishman, who is also overtaken by Verstappen, Massa, and Grosjean. Meanwhile, Button is back on track.

A little before noon, Hamilton and his Mercedes return to chasing the clock, which suggests a driving error rather than a technical problem in the small mishap experienced a little earlier by the reigning world champion.

Jerez Test Rankings – Day 4 (12:15 PM):