F1 Testing Day 2 - Bottas on Form, Giovinazzi Impresses

[Paul Jeffrey]

In the final day of in season testing at Barcelona it would be Valtteri Bottas who took fastest time from an impressive Antonio Giovinazzi driven Ferrari.

With the sun once again shining on the teams in Barcelona for the second and final day of in season testing, it would be Mercedes who end running with the fastest time once again, this time thanks to the pace of Finnish star Valtteri Bottas, but right behind the coat tails of the Spanish Grand Prix runner up would be an impressive Antonio Giovinazzi, taking a turn in the Ferrari car having swapped out his Tuesday Sauber ride ifor another opportunity to gain valuable mileage for the Scuderia.

Gio would be the fastest of the non regular drivers in Spain, finishing the day ahead of third placed Lando Norris in yet another run for the McLaren outfit, this time on a regular test programme and leaving 2018 race driver Stoffel Vandoorne to do the bulk of Pirelli tyre testing at the Circuit de Catalyunia.

In something of a good day for Formula One rookies, Force India driver Nikita Mazepin would wind up an impressive fifth overall after 112 laps of running, finishing sixth tenths ahead of yet another 2018 F1 car rookie in the form of Renault's Jack Aitken, the Formula Two ART driver having a first taste of modern Grand Prix machinery following his promotion to Renault reserve for this season.

Robert Kubica would show enough form to provide a slightly better day for the struggling Williams team, the Polish favourite having a solid day of running as he secured a 123 lap total on his way to eighth overall.

Of the remaining rookies, Jake Dennis would make his Formula One debut during testing today behind the wheel of a Red Bull, the British driver managing just 75 laps having taken over driving duties from Dutchman Max Verstappen, the 22-year-old Blancpain GT driver ending up 11th overall and some 3.5 seconds off the day leading time set by Mercedes.

Of the final rookies in action today, Toro Rosso would once again field Sean Gelael for 83 laps and 12th overall, with Nicholas Latifi on Pirelli duty for Force India and clocking 121 laps on his way to post the final result on the timesheets.

F1 Testing Day 2 Results:

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[Diogo Goetz Brand]

Didn't they mess up the positions between Vandoorne and Norris? I thought the asterisk was for reserve drivers.

 

[rubaru]

Didn't they mess up the positions between Vandoorne and Norris? I thought the asterisk was for reserve drivers.

Asterisk is for drivers on the Pirelli testing program.

 

[Thang Nguyen]

Giovinazzi drives car no.99??? How come?

 

[farjam]

and tyre info for the testing lap times

*latifi was testing superhard if i remember it correctly
* i think you can do 2 xfull grand prix race with superhards :|
* and my question is, what PU components they are using? they are from their allocated units for the season? or they can use different ones (out of their allocated number) ? 130-140 laps equal complete GP weekend laps(FPs +Q +race) and doing it with their allocated PUs is crazy

 

[CC]

Damn some impressive times from Giovinazzi, these F2 drivers are all top drivers and should be given way more opportunities, would be nice to see him driving for Ferrari one day, an Italian driver racing for an Italian manufacturer, would be really nice to see,
I remember when Button and Hamilton was both driving for Mclaren and winning many races a great feeling, all been British, lets see what unfolds in the future,

I believe start of the season tests Kimi was one of the fastest drivers getting mid 1,17,s with the same tires, maybe the car has got slightly faster since during the last few races of the season, but either way a reserve driver getting 1,16,s is highly impressive indeed.

 

[marcocale]

Damn some impressive times from Giovinazzi, these F2 drivers are all top drivers and should be given way more opportunities, would be nice to see him driving for Ferrari one day, an Italian driver racing for an Italian manufacturer, would be really nice to see,
.....

I hope you are right. We (Italian I mean) already lost this opportunity with another great and really fast driver, Davide Valsecchi, 2012 GP2 champion, then Lotus reserve driver, now Sky Italy commentator.
He is also an entertaining and pleasant commentator, but I would prefer to have seen him to be commented instead....
For sure now he should slim down a bit to be competitive on an F1 car

 

[rubaru]

I hope you are right. We (Italian I mean) already lost this opportunity with another great and really fast driver, Davide Valsecchi, 2012 GP2 champion, then Lotus reserve driver, now Sky Italy commentator.
He is also an entertaining and pleasant commentator, but I would prefer to have seen him to be commented instead....
For sure now he should slim down a bit to be competitive on an F1 car

I always favored Liuzzi for an Italian driver. He never really got a break, always ending up with the back markers.

 

[HDrury42]

Good to see Dennis getting a shot in an F1 car. Really quick in F3 but switched to GT’s for budget. Bloody quick in those too, so interesting to see if he gets another shot. With Hartley coming from WEC and the Aston/Red Bull tie up, it could mean that F4/F3/F2 isn’t the only route into F1 anymore...

 

[Shap]

I hope you are right. We (Italian I mean) already lost this opportunity with another great and really fast driver, Davide Valsecchi, 2012 GP2 champion, then Lotus reserve driver, now Sky Italy commentator.
He is also an entertaining and pleasant commentator, but I would prefer to have seen him to be commented instead....
For sure now he should slim down a bit to be competitive on an F1 car

Yep a lost talent. Do you know why he doesn’t race anymore?

 

[marcocale]

I always favored Liuzzi for an Italian driver. He never really got a break, always ending up with the back markers.

But at least Liuzzi had the opportunity to race in F1, even if not with Ferrari.

Yep a lost talent. Do you know why he doesn’t race anymore?

I really don't know if he changed his mind, but I don't think. I think it's more a matter of lost opportunities. Unfortunately in 2013 he was the third Lotus driver, and when they had to substitute Kimi in the last 2 Gp, they preferred Kovalainen when almost everyone in the paddock was thinking that Valsecchi was the right choice. The economial situation inside Lotus was not the best, probably the decision was taken more based on the money the drivers had in their bags, I don't know. I think that if Davide had the opportnity to race that 2 Gp, probably he could have deserved a seat in F1 in 2014.