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Daniel Ricciardo set the unofficial lap record of the circuit de catalunya on the second day of testing in Barcelona. The Australians lap broke the previous record held by Felipe Massa set in 2008 on the 2009 spec of slick tyres, with a 1:18.047 compared to the previous benchmark of 1;18.339. this lap record was also set with a new spec tyres in the form of Pirelli's new Hyper softs.
The new bench mark was over a second quicker than anything set in the testing days prior, smashing this years best, which had been set by Lewis Hamilton on the last day of the first test with a 1:19.0. With the Red Bull also running for well 150 laps it can certainly be considered a good day for the Milton Keynes outfit and their title aspirations for this year.
The Mercedes team however also stepped their pace today with both drivers setting their fastest laps in the 1:18s, with Hamilton and Bottas setting 1:18.400 and 1:18.560 respectively on ultra soft tyres, representing a significant step up in pace for the World champions to match that of the Red Bull.
The other expected front runner for this season, Ferrari, were some way off the front running pace of the Red Bull and Mercedes', with Sebastian Vettel, (standing in for an ill Kimi Raikkonen in the morning) setting a time of 1:19.541, but with the time being set on the soft tyres, which are significantly harder than the tyres used by the front runners, it should become a much more representative time when tyres are taken into consideration.
It was another problematic day for McLaren as the car of Fernando Alonso came to a halt after 47 laps with a supposed oil leak, the latest in a string of problems that have plagued testing so far for the team, but with the team managing to send Alonso out by the end of the session, they at least had something to salvage from the day.
Toro Rosso had an up and down day, with Brendon Hartley managing 118 laps despite a spin and stopping in the pit lane exit, but with Hartley managing to post a lap quicker than McLaren on the hypersoft tyres late in the day for fifth place, it will certainly be considered yet another encouraging day for the team.
Renault managed a good day, with the team managing over 190 laps between their two drivers, with Carlos Sainz setting an extremely competitive time of 1:20.042 on medium tyres, which is less than two tenths slower than the best time set by Fernando Alonso on tyres five grades softer, showing the potential in the Renault car.
Haas continued their trend of setting quick lap times in the tests, with Romain Grosjean posting the eighth quickest time on soft tyres, but only setting 78 laps which compared to the sky high number of laps teams such as Sauber and Renault are setting, is a relatively low number.
Williams and Force India continued their trend of sitting near the bottom of the lap time charts, with Williams 10th and 14th with their two drivers and Esteban Ocon managing only 12th, perhaps signalling a worrying time next season for the two best teams of the the midfield last season, although surely cant be ruled out on the basis of the infamously unreliable testing times.
Sam Gale
Circuit de Catalunya - 07 March 2018
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Thats a mighty lap from Ricciardo. Mighty amount of laps to boot. I must admit that while I think most of McLaren's issues are but testing woes, I am a bit worried. The raw amount of issues, combined with those new extra inlets, doesnt seem very promising. Toro Rosso had a decent run again though.