Bottas P1 on third day, Toro Rosso productive

Published on 02 March 2016 by Stefan Meens

Valtteri Bottas finished day two of the second pre-season test on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya at the top of the timing table. The Williams driver, who clocked a 1:23.261, lapped the Spanish track three tenths quicker than reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton in his Mercedes. Kevin Magnussen, who set his fastest lap in the morning, completed the top three.

The afternoon session appears to be business as usual. Most teams and drivers comfortably complete their laps in the Spanish sunshine. Toro Rosso had a productive day with Carlos Sainz being the first driver to reach 100 laps. In the end, the Spaniard completed the most laps of anyone out on track today, a grand total of 166.

But it was not all plain sailing for everyone in the paddock. Marcus Ericsson brought out a red flag after his Sauber strands without a right rear wheel in turn 4. Haas’ morning struggles endured. The American team experienced turbo issues earlier in the day, problems they were not able to fix. It meant Esteban Guitierrez only completed one lap.

On Thursday, it is Max’ turn to drive the STR11. It will be the youngster’s final test outing before the 2016 season kicks off in Melbourne Friday 18 March.