Barcelona day two: Vettel fastest after the second day of testing

  • Published on 27 Feb 2018 18:06
  • 6
  • By: Filippo “Phil” Pollara

Sebastian Vettel ended the second day of testing from Barcelona on top of the timesheets. Unprecedented snowfall removed any potential excitement of a late flurry of indicative lap times at the circuit this afternoon.

The start of running this morning had already been delayed, primarily caused by sub-zero temperatures making it virtually impossible for drivers to switch on the tyres. Nonetheless, Ferrari and Mercedes managed nearly 200 laps between them by the end of day 2. 

After a set of morning installation laps, Sebastian Vettel used the cancelled lunch break to punch in some promising lap times, finishing up fastest with a 1.19.6 - only half a second off his best time from last year's test. Vettel's time was set with the soft tyre compound, with Bottas putting in a 1.19.9. The Finn however, delivered that time on the medium tyres.

Red Bull endured a frustrating morning, a fuel pump issue meant Max Verstappen couldn't get out of the pit lane in earnest until mid-afternoon. By the end however, the Dutchman accrued a decent amount of mileage, completing 65 laps and returning long run times in the 1.21s. His fastest time, a 1.20.3 put him in fourth place.

Elsewhere, Stoffel Vandoorne and McLaren enjoyed a promising morning, with the Belgian posting a 1.20.3 on the fastest hyper soft compound to finish in third place. Unfortunately for the Woking based team, the day's work was curtailed by an issue with the radiator which saw no running in the afternoon.

Further down the grid, Carlos Sainz in the Renault was fifth fastest with a 1.20.2, with the Toro Rosso of Pierre Gasly only a tenth behind. The returning Robert Kubica was Williams's fastest driver of the day, taking seventh. The Poles' time was a 1.21.4, while eighth-placed Sergey Sirotkin managed a 1.21.8 on his debut. Force India's Esteban Ocon was ninth (1.21.8), Sauber debutant Charles Leclerc was tenth fastest (1.22.7) and Kevin Magnussen's Haas only thousandths behind in eleventh. 

 

Fil Pollara 

Circuit de Catalunya - 27 February 2018

Replies (6)

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  • Honda is looking good again today. Ferrari and Mercedes are where they should be, no surprise there. I draw nothing from Red Bull's fuel pump issue. The same with McLaren's radiator, likely not even an engine issue on that one. Isnt mean amount of laps lower this year around though? Or is it just me?

    • + 0
    • Feb 27 2018 - 19:33
    • Pauli

      Posts: 140

      Weather doesn't allow running full program because morning is too cold for tyres and evening/afternoon there has been minor rain/snow and temperature drops a bit.

      • + 0
      • Feb 27 2018 - 22:30
    • Lack of mileage must be due to the weather.

      • + 0
      • Feb 27 2018 - 22:51
    • Probably. Hope we'll see more laps later.

      • + 0
      • Feb 28 2018 - 06:30
  • RogerF1

    Posts: 501

    Barcelona is not the right place for this. Anything other than Barca is now simulators and dynos. Like the Ferrari performance today and that McL managed the best of the rest.

    • + 0
    • Feb 27 2018 - 23:15
  • Norbert

    Posts: 108

    Team Combined Times Test #1&2

    1. Ferrari 1:19.673
    2. Mercedes 1:19.976
    3. Red Bull 1:20.179
    4. McLaren 1:20.325
    5. Renault 1:20.547
    6. Toro Rosso 1:21.318
    7. Williams 1:21.495
    8. F-India 1:21.841
    9. Haas F1 1:22.578
    10. Sauber 1:22.721

    • + 0
    • Feb 28 2018 - 04:49

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