Austria test, day two: Nico Rosberg fastest as F1’s second and final in-season test draws to a close

Austrian GP winner Nico Rosberg was fastest as F1’s second and final in-season test came to a close at the Red Bull Ring on Wednesday.

Three days after taking the chequered flag ahead of Mercedes team-mate and title rival Lewis Hamilton, Rosberg lapped the 4.326km track in a time of 1.09.113s, about 0.6s slower than Hamilton’s pole time from the weekend.

"We had a gearbox issue just before lunch but luckily it didn't really cost us any time as we could work on it during the break and the guys did a great job to get me back out there so quick, so thank you to them for that," Rosberg said.

"It was an intense programme but we got through everything and learned a lot. 

"We started with was some aero work then spent time looking at tyres and a few mechanical things like spring settings. We also ran a stiff setup in preparation for Silverstone, which will be useful for next week."

There was a familiar ring to the timesheet, with Ferrari second fastest with reserve driver Esteban Gutierrez in the car while Valtteri Bottas was third for Williams.

The Finn had been fastest in the morning before Rosberg went top mid-afternoon on a day that, despite the odd shower, was free from the interruptions Tuesday’s heavy rain brought.

Making his F1 debut, DTM champion Marco Wittmann was fourth fastest for Toro Rosso with the German also completing more laps – 158 – than any other runner.

"This has been an amazing experience for me. I was surprised at the power of the car; if I compare it to DTM, it’s got quite a lot more power!" he said.

"I enjoyed the whole day, which was trouble free, so I was able to do a lot of laps. I’m happy with my day, I hope the team is too. I would like to thank Red Bull, Scuderia Toro Rosso and BMW for giving me this great opportunity.”

Wittmann ended the day a tenth quicker than Pascal Wehrlein, who was fastest for Mercedes on Tuesday and switched to Force India on the second day.

Lotus reserve Jolyon Palmer jumped up to sixth in the closing minutes, above Fernando Alonso who completed over 100 valuable laps in a McLaren-Honda sporting its new shorter nose.

"Today was a positive day," said Alonso, who crashed out of Sunday's race on the opening lap. "The most important thing was to put some laps on the car after the problems we’ve had in the last couple of races.

"We managed to complete more than 100 laps, and, together with Stoffel [Vandoorne]’s laps yesterday, I think we finished the test with some good information."

Daniel Ricciardo was eighth fastest for Red Bull ahead of Sauber’s Felipe Nasr. 

Times:

1) Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:09.113 117 laps

2) Esteban Gutierrez Ferrari 1:09.931 110

3) Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:10.029 79

4) Marco Wittmann Toro Rosso 1:10.103 158

5) Pascal Wehrlein Force India 1:10.253 132

6) Jolyon Palmer Lotus 1:10.373 110

7) Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:10.718 104

8) Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:10.757 116

9) Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:10.922 138