Vettel obliterates Ricciardo record as testing heats up

Ferrari flexed their muscles at the Circuit de Catalunya on Thursday as Sebastian Vettel smashed the unofficial lap record set by Daniel Ricciardo a day previously. The German bolted on hypersoft tyres before taking four tenths off Ricciardo's previous benchmark.

Ricciardo appeared to back up predictions of Red Bull's return to genuine title contention by breaking an unofficial record which had stood for 10 years on Wednesday.

But Ricciardo had suggested that dipping below his 1:18.047 was possible and that was proven a day later, as Vettel turned in several faster laps before he stopped the watch at one minute 17.182 seconds on a qualifying sim run.

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And the benchmark is down to 1:17.182 thanks to Vettel ????#F1 #F1Testing pic.twitter.com/GSk9Lv3m06 — Formula 1 (@F1) March 8, 2018

Lewis Hamilton may well look to lower the mark further when he takes over the Mercedes in the afternoon session.

Valtteri Bottas made it to lunch only seventh fastest, but having completed 96 laps, more than anyone else.

The times tumbled across the board on Thursday, with Kevin Magnussen, Nico Hulkenberg and Stoffel Vandoorne all dipping below the 1min 19secs mark.

Pierre Gasly put in 1:17.805 right before the chequered flag fell to suggest Honda have brought performance and reliability to Toro Rosso, although the lap was expunged for exceeding track limits.

Robert Kubica delivered a new personal best time in the Williams, while Max Verstappen opted not to chase his team-mate's performance in the morning, appearing to focus on long-run pace as he racked up 77 laps and went slowest of all drivers on-track.