Ricciardo Leads Day 2 of Second F1 Preseason Test in Barcelona

By FIA

Daniel Ricciardo set the fastest ever lap of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya to top the timesheets on day two of the second pre-season Formula 1 test at the Spanish track.

The Red Bull Racing driver used Pirelli’s new hypersoft compound to post a time of 1:18.047 that beat Felipe Massa’s 2008 record. It was also good enough, on the day, to eclipse world champion Lewis Hamilton by over three tenths of a second. Hamilton had led for most of the morning session and set his quickest time on ultrasoft tyres. His team-mate Valtteri Bottas took third sport, half a second down on Ricciardo and like Hamilton the Finn used ultrasofts for his quickest lap.

Ricciardo also took single driver lap count honours for the day, working through 165 laps of the Barcelona track

Fourth place in the session went to Sebastian Vettel. The German was a surprise runner in the morning, being drafted in for the unwell Kimi Räikkönen. Vettel spent his extra half day in the new Ferrari SF17H working through long runs on the soft tyre and ended his outing in fourth place with a best time of 1:19.541 that left him 1.494 off the pace. Räikkönen took over driving duties in the afternoon, adding another 49 laps to Vettel’s 66 on his way to eight spot on the timesheet.

The day’s fifth fastest time went to Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley. The New Zealander posted a time of 1:19.823 on hypersoft tyres late in the day after earlier suffering a spin and a stoppage. A good day’s work saw Hartley add another 118 laps to Toro Rosso’s tally.

It was another troubled day for Toro Rosso engine supplier Honda’s former partners McLaren, however.

Fernando Alonso had a productive start to the session, setting a good time of 1:19.856 on hypersoft tyres and working through 47 laps but then the Spaniard was sidelined by an oil leak. The resulting engine change restricted Alonso to the garage for most of the day. He did manage to rejoin the action in the final 15 minutes of the session, adding a further 10 laps to his total. ,

Renault’s Carlos Sainz was seventh quickest and handed over to Nico Hulkenberg in the afternoon with the German finishing 11^th. Between them the pair racked up the most mileage for a team with 190 laps covered.

Sauber new recruit Charles Leclerc also had a solid day, completing 160 laps, though the Monegasque driver brought the red flags out at the end of the session when went off track at Turn 12.

Formula 1 Pre-Season Test 2, Barcelona – Day Two 
1 Ricciardo Red Bull 1:18.047s 165
2 Hamilton Mercedes 1:18.400s +0.353 90
3 Bottas Mercedes 1:18.560s +0.513 85
4 Vettel Ferrari 1:19.541s +1.494 66
5 Hartley Toro Rosso 1:19.823s +1.776 119
6 Alonso McLaren 1:19.856s +1.809 57
7 Sainz Renault 1:20.042s +1.995 88
8 Grosjean Haas 1:20.237s +2.190 78
9 Raikkonen Ferrari 1:20.242s +2.195 49
10 Stroll Williams 1:20.349s +2.302 63
11 Hulkenberg Renault 1:20.758s +2.711 102
12 Ocon Force India 1:20.805s +2.758 130
13 Leclerc Sauber 1:20.919s +2.872 160
14 Sirotkin Williams 1:22.350s +4.303 80