Late start for Red Bull Racing and Albon on first morning of second test

Published on 26 February 2020 by Stefan Meens

The start of the second week of pre-season testing did not go to plan for Aston Martin Red Bull Racing. After one installation lap, Alexander Albon returned to the RBR pits for lengthy repairs. It was not until the final hour that RB16 was able to lap de Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya. In the end, Albon managed 29 laps and the third fastest time.

Ferrari was the most productive outfit, with Sebastian Vettel completing 84 laps. Alfa Romeo’s test driver, Robert Kubica, was quickest, producing a 1:16.942.

Overall, it was an uneventful session with only two red flags. The first was caused by Vettel, who managed to exit the gravel traps he ended up in after a spin. However, the Ferrari driver dragged a significant amount of gravel onto the track, prompting the red flag to enable to marshals to clean the circuit.

Twenty minutes after the first red flag, Nicolas Latifi caused a second one after he parked his Williams trackside on the back straight.

With little over an hour to go, Albon and Red Bull finally made it out on track. After a fourteen lap stint, the car returned for some changes to the front of the RB16, before heading out to complete another fifteen laps by the end of the session. 1:17.550 proved to be Albon best effort on Wednesday morning.

Max Verstappen will drive the RB16 during the remainder of the day.