Formula 1 News Roundup 2/25

Today was the last day of the first four day test in Barcelona. Kimi Raikkonen ended the day fastest but he did set his time with Pirelli's new ultrasoft tires. The only two teams that ran into major problems where Manor as Rio Haryanto had a crash in the afternoon and could not get back on track and McLaren who only completed three laps on the day due to a coolant leak. Every other team completed at least one race distance led by the Mercedes drivers who completed 185 between the two of them. The most laps for a single driver was Kevin Magnussen who completed 153 laps. For a more detailed report on testing you can check here or here. Also, for quotes from drivers and team personnel, check here. Finally, to check Ted Kravitz's verdict click here.

There was not much news in Formula 1 today outside of testing. Pirelli did claim though that they do not expect laptimes to fall off a cliff with tires this year. They expect the drop off in times to be more gradual and Pirelli feel that this is the better option. Overall I would like to see racier tires that the drivers can push to the limit but that obviously won't happen this year. If I had to choose between a gradual drop off or tires that fall off a cliff I would choose ones that fall of a cliff. I think when they were first introduced they did bring some excitement into the races as if a driver pushed just a bit too far they would face the possibility of losing a lot of positions. The bit of unpredictability that they could possibly bring is something that Formula 1 could use to spice up some of the races.