Productive morning for Max at start of second pre-season test

Published on 06 March 2018 by Stefan Meens

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing has started the second pre-season test well. During the morning session, Max Verstappen completed 85 laps in the new RB14, managing the third fastest time.

Just after 9am local time, Max heads out for his first run of the day with his car sporting two aero rakes, both there to measure the air flows. After a short run, the Dutchman heads back to the pits for the mechanics to take the rakes off, after which the youngster continues adding to his lap tally.

After a run on the soft Pirellis, Red Bull opt for the ultra-softs for the first time in pre-season testing. The Dutchman joins Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) and Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) in the top three.

The session is red-flagged twice. First, Stoffel Vandoorne’s McLaren has stopped at the start of the start/finish straight. The problem halting the young Belgian is severe enough to keep McLaren in the pits all morning.

The second red flag is caused by Sergio Perez after the Mexican spun his Force India in turn four.

Meanwhile, Max has switched to the medium compound for a twenty lap stint bringing his lap count to 85.

With half an our on the clock, Vettel improves his lap time by two tenths and ends the session quickest, ahead of Bottas and Max.

Pre-Season Test 2 - Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya - Tuesday 6 March 2018

   DRIVER		TEAM		  TIME		         LAPS
1  Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari		  1:20.396		 86
2  Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	  1:20.596	+0.200	 86
3  Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	  1:20.649	+0.253	 85
4  Pierre Gasly		Toro Rosso	  1:20.973	+0.577	 53
5  Kevin Magnussen	Haas F1		  1:21.298	+0.902	 46
6  Nico Hülkenberg	Renault		  1:21.432	+1.036	 48
7  Sergey Sirotkin	Williams	  1:21.588	+1.192	 42
8  Marcus Ericsson	Sauber		  1:21.893	+1.497	 56
9  Sergio Perez		Force India	  1:21.936	+1.540	 37
10 Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren 	  1:24.773	+4.377