FÓRMULA-1

Testing, Day 4: Nico Hulkenberg the fastest of the week
Nico Hulkenberg put Renault at the top of the timesheet not only today, but the week, with a record of 1'17.393s surpassed the mark yesterday registered by Daniil Kvyat.
The first sign of the good progress of Renault was given this morning by Daniel Ricciardo, who put his Renault ahead in the late morning, but his German colleague shone this afternoon.
With Pirelli's softer tires, the C5, left Alex Albon (Toro Rosso) at 0.244s. Curiously, although fast, the Renault had some problems, as between the two, Ricciardo and Hulkenberg, only rode 58 laps, the worst performance of all the teams present today.
Even Williams walked more ...
Interestingly, today's record of Alexander Albon, and that of Daniil Kvyat, yesterday, puts Toro Rosso with the second and third best times of the week of testing.
The fourth best time of today was held by Valtteri Bottas, who replaced Lewis Hamilton after lunch. Although they were less than in previous days, today was performance day, with the Finn to record 1m17.8578s, the best time of the Mercedes in these four days.
In the morning, Lewis Hamilton did slightly worse, 1m17.977s, which record however was the best of the C4 tires.
Charles Leclerc was sixth with Ferrari, and his best time was made with the C3 tire, a compound harder than that used by any of the pilots who stood before him today.
Lando Norris was seventh, the McLaren MCL34 has gradually improved, but the longer series of laps are still a big unknown. A case to see more in detail ...
Antonio Giovinazzi was eighth with the Alfa Romeo. The record is not very fast, but the team has shown great consistency in the long series of laps, it seems that Alfa Romeo is the best team in the second group at the moment. It's too early to be sure, but there's this realization. Curiously, it was the Alfa Romeo of Giovinazzi that 'finished' today by stopping on the track already very close to the end of the session.
The Haas of Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen were in eighth and ninth, with the Danish returning to the cockpit this afternoon after solving a problem with his head support, which forced him to give way to Pietro Fittipaldi.
Pierre Gasly was tenth, but this was a day when he was mainly concerned with long series of laps, and in that aspect he was very well, with the Red Bull / Honda proving to be very consistent.
Racing Point has not yet met, Lance Stroll was only 12th but worse than that the team has not been able to make many laps. Today it was only 78.
George Russell and Robert Kubica were naturally at the top of the table, with their best records at 3.604s and 4.149s from the front, which makes clear the difficulties of the team, which, ironically, today has gone more than Renault ...
Movie of the day
The day began with low temperatures and a runway exit of Lando Norris, at low speed, due to tire temperature. It was the first red flag of the day, which afterwards went smoothly.
After testing with the 'aeroracks' to assess the airflow of the car, the pace of single-seater began to increase. Charles Leclerc started to get in sight but mid-morning, Lewis Hamilton was on the track to show a little more than the W10 was capable. The Briton reached the top of the table but Daniel Ricciardo took little to steal the position to Hamilton.
The highlight was then for Alex Albon who got the fastest time at the end of the morning session. That record held until near the end of the day, when Nico Hulkenberg made the best time of day before facing problems in his car that forced him to stop in the middle of the track. The interruption was short and at the last minute we had more quick laps.
Who is better?
Ferrari comes out of this test as the reference. The progress was very good, especially in the long stints, where the new Scuderia car showed progress and good rubber management. Mercedes was a little more discreet during the four days, but on the other hand they accumulated many kilometers and data, as usual. Ferrari says the Germans are hiding the game while the silver arrows defend themselves by saying that the Ferrari are even faster.
Red Bull and Toro Rosso finished good points, with no problems in Honda's driving units and with interesting rides.
It was a positive week for the two teams and the smiles are getting bigger, although Toro Rosso seems to be slightly better than Red Bull, compared to expectations.
Renault and McLaren also have accumulated many kilometers but seem to be still a little far from the ground, especially McLaren.
The Alfa Romeo has a very interesting car, clearly it looks like it will be necessary to count on them this year in the fight for the second peloton. On the other hand, Racing Point, has not yet seen the sights. Haas had a week of mishaps and flaws, and Williams only did a day and a half of testing, and is therefore very late in developing the car. The teams will now analyze the data and prepare everything for next week, where the cars are back on track for another four days of testing to prepare for the first races of the year.
Red Bull and Toro Rosso finished good points, with no problems in Honda's driving units and with interesting rides. It was a positive week for the two teams and the smiles are getting bigger, although Toro Rosso seems to be slightly better than Red Bull, compared to expectations.
Renault and McLaren also have accumulated many kilometers but they seem to be still a little distant in terms of progress, especially McLaren. The Alfa Romeo has a very interesting car and although it has been something discreet, it is necessary to count on them this year. Racing Point did not appear in the sights but is a habit of the team. Haas had a week of mishaps and flaws, and Williams only did a day and a half of testing and is far behind in the development of the car.
The teams will now analyze the data and prepare everything for next week, where the cars are back on track for another four days of testing to prepare for the first races of the year. Fábio Mendes, Portugal