Paul Jeffrey
Premium
In the second day of pre-season testing it would be Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari who end the session atop the times, just ahead of chief rivals Mercedes in a stop start day of running,
Vettel and Ferrari would top both the times and the running in Barcelona today thanks to the efforts of Sebastian Vettel and his 98 tours of the Spanish Grand Prix circuit, ending running with a time good enough to shade Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas by just over three tenths of a second, followed by the impressive McLaren of Stoffel Vandoorne a further three tenths adrift in third place - despite limited running thanks to issues with the exhaust of the newly Renault powered MCL33 machine.
With the usual protaganists taking most of the limelight up front, Williams would provide one of the key talking points of day 2 with the first serious direct comparison between new #2 driver and new test and reserve recruit Sergey Sirotkin and Robert Kubica. Sirotkin would take to the wheel of the Mercedes powered FW41 during the morning running, clocking 52 laps, only to hand over to Formula One returnee Kubica later that day, affording the loveable Polish former race winner the opportunity to clock 48 laps and a very solid 1:21.498, three tenths up on his Russian Williams partner and 1.8 seconds behind the pace setting Ferrari. A very impressive start to life as an official Williams recruit...
It would be a reasonably unrepresentative session for the teams during day two of testing thanks to unreasonably cold conditions out on circuit, causing much disappointment for teams and fans alike as the various new Formula One cars spent much time either in the garage or performing short installation laps as they performed collaboration work between the wind tunnel, CFD and track performance.
Running would increase towards the now cancelled lunch break at mid day, however this would soon come to an end thanks to various off track excursions for various drivers, not least of which would be an issue for Verstappen in the Red Bull, taking leave of the circuit early in the session and suffering from mechanical issues, bringing out one of the several red flag periods during the day of running.
Testing continues tomorrow...
If you like your motorsport fast and open wheeled, check out the Formula One sub forum and get yourself in on the discussion today!
Like what you see here at RaceDepartment? Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow us on social media!
RaceDepartment YouTube
RaceDepartment Twitter
RaceDepartment Facebook
RaceDepartment Twitch
RaceDepartment Instagram
Learn anything new from the second day of running? Can Ferrari and Red Bull take the fight to Mercedes this year? Will McLaren once again fight for wins? What can Renault do with the new R.S.18? Let us know in the comment section below!
Last edited:
