Barcelona day 2: Red Bull leading

Published on 20 February 2015 by Mike Motilall

With temperatures close to freezing point, the second day of testing in Barcelona got on its way for the new Formula 1-season. On Circuit de Catalunya the following drivers were to be found in the paddock for a day in their cars: Nico Rosberg for Mercedes, Daniel Ricciardo for Red Bull, Valtteri Bottas for Williams, Kimi Raikkonen for Ferrari, Fernando Alonso for McLaren, Sergio Perez for Force India, Carlos Sainz for Toro Rosso, Joylon Palmer for Lotus and Marcus Ericsson for Sauber.

Daniel Ricciardo undoubtedly left an impression. The Red Bull driver claimed the top spot for both the fastest lap time as for the most covered laps. With the fastest time at 1:24.574, driven in the morning, together with a total of a whopping 143 laps, the team experienced a very productive test day. The fastest times were closely matched today, with Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari), Felipe Massa (Williams) and Sergio Perez (Sauber) being respectively second, third and fourth.

Lewis Hamilton, more or less recovered from a flu that kept him out of the car in favor of Pascal Wehrlein, yesterday; replaces Nico Rosberg in the afternoon, who is suffering from a nerve issue in his neck. Hamilton and Massa commit themselves to doing long runs, hence simulating a race. Fernando Alonso takes over from Jenson Button in the McLaren. Button, originally scheduled to drive on Thursday and Friday, was very ill-fated yesterday due to the fact that he had an engine change very early. Because the team cannot guarantee that there will be a lot of driving today, the Brit and the Spaniard are swapping days to both bear the pain. Although the McLaren-Honda has not done any long runs and is clearly lacking reliability, the team is showing that the speed of their vehicle is promising. Alonso only does 28 laps in the morning, the least of all drivers, but nevertheless clocks the fifth time: 1:26.387.

Jolyon Palmer debuts in the Formula 1 today for the Lotus team.  He does a great job by ending the day with the fastest time: 1:26.280.

At one o’clock, when the checkered flag is shown for lunch, the drivers have covered a total of 422 laps. Rosberg, Ricciardo and Ericsson take credit for the lion’s share of that with respectively 65, 62 and 58 laps. The test day for Sainz at Toro Rosso does not start any less productive than Max Verstappen yesterday: in the morning he covers just six laps more than Max the previous day. When he gets out of the car, he has driven a total of 41 laps.

At Mercedes it is not all is about speed. The team sees an opportunity to do an aerodynamic test at a constant speed, during which Rosberg was “calmly” doing laps of about two-and-a-half minutes. There was also some other news regarding Nico Rosberg: on Twitter he announced that if all went well, he expects to become father of a baby girl in August.

Where in Jerez a lot of driving took place on the harder and medium compound, the teams are bringing out today more and more the softer compound. Ricciardo causes for a brief period the only red flag situation in the morning, when his car halts at the end of the pit lane. However, he was quickly pushed back to his pit box. A second red flag is caused by Carlos Sainz, who parks his Toro Rosso in turn nine in the gravel. He manages to avoid crashing into the wall. After a delay of an hour, Sainz is back on the track at 16:30. Just before the session ends he is forced back into the pit due to a smoking Toro Rosso. Moments later Marcus Ericsson causes the third and last interruption of the session by halting on the straight.

Tomorrow the four-day test session in Barcelona enters its third day. This will see Max Verstappen in action again for the team of Scuderia Toro Rosso.

Second pre-season test - Barcelona day 2 - Friday 20 February

 Pos   Driver              Car           Time               Laps
 1     Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull      1m24.574s          (143)
 2     Kimi Raikkonen      Ferrari       1m24.584s  +0.010  (90)
 3     Felipe Massa        Williams      1m24.672s  +0.098  (88)
 4     Sergio Perez        Force India   1m24.702s  +0.128  (121)
 5     Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes      1m24.923s  +0.349  (89)
 6     Nico Rosberg        Mercedes      1m25.556s  +0.982  (66)
 7     Fernando Alonso     McLaren       1m25.961s  +1.387  (59)
 8     Jolyon Palmer       Lotus         1m26.280s  +1.706  (77)
 9     Marcus Ericsson     Sauber        1m27.344s  +2.770  (113)
10     Carlos Sainz Jr     Toro Rosso    1m28.945s  +4.371  (100)