Formula 1 drivers were left frustrated by the unrepresentative conditions on the opening day of pre-season testing, with the situation unlikely to improve in the coming days.
Weather in late February/early March is typically warm and dry at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with temperatures hovering in the mid-teens, though the cold snap stretching across most of Western Europe has also begun to affect Spain.
The morning session was predominantly overcast, with air temperature peaking at 9°c, before wet weather and colder conditions struck during the afternoon.
Overnight snow is forecast in the region, with Tuesday’s temperatures set to peak at 4°c, while rain is expected on both Wednesday and Thursday.
Current forecasts indicate that Wednesday could be a washout, with temperatures remaining low, while warmer conditions are set to arrive on Thursday, albeit with rain persisting.
“In the afternoon the conditions were really tricky,” said pacesetter Daniel Ricciardo.
“It’s hard to get anything working with tyres in these temperatures, especially as they’ve also re-laid the surface. When the temperature is there it’s good, but when it’s cold there really isn’t any grip!
“It’s nice to see yourself at the top of the timesheets but in two-degree temperatures you really can’t learn anything.”
Lewis Hamilton conducted running during the afternoon for Mercedes but completed only 25 laps as he finished in sixth position.
“The track was very cold, meaning it was tough to get any sort of heat into the tyres,” he said.
“The tyres weren't really working in these temperatures, so I could not get a real feel for them.
“I didn't really get the chance to push in the car and go up to top speeds as the conditions were so bad.”
Renault’s Carlos Sainz Jr. was in a similar predicament to Hamilton, having sat out the morning session while Nico Hulkenberg tested, and commented: “the wind came, the clouds came, the North Pole came and suddenly Barcelona tuned into Finland!
“It was just impossible with the temperatures, on Medium tyres, Soft tyres, it’s very difficult to reach the peak of the tyre, every lap was coming faster and faster.
“Then you have to back off a bit and the tyres were dropping and it was taking another five laps to come in [to the right window].”
Sainz Jr. suggested that teams could opt to abort Wednesday’s running, when the worst of the weather is expected, if it can be unanimously agreed to run on Friday.
“I don’t know if teams will discuss to extend [the test], there’s a rumour going around,” he said.
“Just to let you know [on] Friday it’s [supposed to be] 17°c, normal Barcelona weather, and sunny, so I wouldn’t mind if we could have that Friday for testing and just sit out on Wednesday when it’s apparently snowing.
“There’s a few options there and we’ll see what happens.”
Fernando Alonso added: "We will struggle if it keeps raining like this and with the temperatures like this in the next days, tomorrow and Wednesday, it’s going to be hard for any teams to do many laps."
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