Vettel tops time sheets to begin second test

Sebastian Vettel topped the time sheets at the beginning of the second set of tests in Barcelona. The German set a time comparable to the time he set on the last day of the first test with a 1:20.396 set  today on the medium tyres compared to his best lap last time of a 1:20.241 set on the soft tyres last time out, perhaps showing a slight improvement due to the harder tyres being in use.

The German was one of three drivers to set over 100 laps, along with Red Bull's Max Verstappen on 127 laps and Saubers Marcus Ericsson on 118 laps, whilst Vettel managed a mammoth 168 laps, which is the equivalent of over 2 and a half Grands Prix at the circuit de catalunya.

Pace setters from last weeks test, Mercedes, once again split duties between their two drivers, with both Bottas and Hamilton managing 80+ laps without troubling the times they set last week, only managing headline times in the mid 1:20's although still ominously both near the top of the time sheets in second and fourth respectively.

Third placed Max Verstappen ran well for 127 laps, setting his best lap time on the medium tyres, reaffirming the good pace that the Milton Keynes Marque seems to have in their car, although they did run in to a small problem which resulted in the car stopping on track late in the day, only to be swiftly resolved.

Toro Rosso continued their good testing form from last week when they set the most amount of laps with their new Honda engine, and today Pierre Gasly set a time less than two tenths from Lewis Hamilton;s best time on the same tyres for fifth place, with their package yet again proving to be seemingly fast and reliable, although did run into a supposed brake issue which brought an early end to their day.

The same can not be said for Honda's old partner McLaren however, with Stoffel Vandoorne managing the least amount of laps of any driver with only 38 laps to his name and stopping twice on the track whilst only beating the Williams of Lance Stroll for pace down in a lowly 12th place.

Kevin Magnussen achieved an impressive sixth place in his Haas car, whilst nearly breaking the 100 lap barrier, with 96, in what seemed like a somewhat productive day for the American team to put themselves ahead of the hotly tipped Renault cars.

Renault themselves managed a good day in terms of laps, with both drivers splitting duties to reach over 100 laps, with the times between the two drivers as close as they were at the end of last season and look set to commence a fierce rivalry this season for supremacy at the Enstone team.

Williams again were close to the bottom of the time sheets with there somewhat controversial driver line up of Sergey Sirotkin and Lance Stroll splitting duties today, with the former the quicker of the two, whilst Stroll sat in a lowly last place on the time sheets.

Force India meanwhile, who were fourth place in last years constructors championship and only behind the big three teams of Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull continue to somewhat anonymously go about their business once again sitting near the bottom of the time sheets without running into problems, with Sergio Perez setting a respectable 93 laps.

Sauber with their new Alfa Romeo partnership and current Ferrari engines were again  near the bottom end of the time sheets, with Marcus Ericsson only beating the Williams of Lance Stroll and McLaren of Stoffel vandoorne, however with over 100 laps to his name the day should be considered a success for the Sauber team.

Sam Gale