Jerez Testing – Day 2 (morning): Vettel and Ferrari Still Impress

Once again, Sebastian Vettel impresses in his debut with Ferrari. Even though the Scuderia is not the most diligent on the track, it still largely dominates its competitors on the stopwatch. With a one and a half second lead at midday over his follower, Lewis Hamilton, the German has plenty of room to maneuver, even though the times must be taken with a grain of salt, as the teams are on different programs, tires, and fuel quantities.

Today, no presentations, but some drivers are making their debuts this year like Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso), Jenson Button (McLaren), Felipe Nasr (Sauber), Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull) and therefore, Pastor Maldonado (Lotus), whose team managed to assemble his E23 in record time.

One of the main questions concerned the pace and consistency on track of the new Honda hybrid unit. Yesterday, Fernando Alonso completed only 6 laps, yet expressed no particular concern. This morning, Button completed only 5 laps, without really setting any times, but Eric Boullier’s team still displays a surprising confidence.

On the Red Bull side, the young Kvyat has already caused a stir by damaging the only front wing available to him today, resulting in the astonishing image of an RB11 heading back out on track… without a front wing! The Russian’s day is likely to be complicated, and it’s an unfortunate setback for the Austrian team. In fact, it’s uncertain if they will return to the track this afternoon.

Ranking of Jerez Tests – Day 2 (12:15 pm):