Barcelona Pre-Season Test – Day 2: Räikkönen leads by 23 thousandths!

The SF70H is doing well, thank you very much! After Vettel’s endurance on Monday (128 laps completed), pure speed is in the spotlight during this second day of training, in preparation for the Formula 1 season.

Ferrari kicks off the season on the right foot, Red Bull turns back time

The Finnish driver set the benchmark at 1:20.960. But more than the time, it should be noted that this performance was achieved on soft tires. Quite a feat for Scuderia Ferrari. Not only did “Iceman” beat Monday’s record by eight-tenths, but he also finished ahead of other cars, which were using super-soft tires. The margin was nonetheless slim between the 2007 champion and his closest pursuer, who is none other than Lewis Hamilton. It should be noted that the Briton focused primarily on an aerodynamic evaluation program before actually chasing times.

In terms of consistency, everything is going well for Räikkönen as well. For the second time in two days, Ferrari has crossed the 100-lap mark. Just like the two Mercedes drivers.

Second, Hamilton had set the best time in the morning, equipped with red sidewall tires. Once again, he had to share his seat with Bottas, who took the wheel of the W08 for the afternoon. The former Williams driver made a notable error with an uncontrolled slide in the big right-hand turn of corner 9. Skidding onto the curb at the exit, he hit the wall on the opposite side, to the right of the track. Fortunately, the impact was lateral and not very violent. The world champion car barely suffered from this mishap.

Obviously, she also runs like clockwork, as evidenced by the 167 laps completed by the two drivers. And Bottas once again outpaces the Englishman in this little game, by exactly 36 laps.

This Tuesday, Toto Wolff’s team innovated by opting for various setup strategies. The T-shaped rear wing was used only until the lunch break. The Silver Arrow then appeared without this feature, but still very finely tuned.

Third in the standings, Max Verstappen boosts Red Bull’s reputation, with a time set on soft tires. Kevin Magnussen once again secures fourth place for Haas, while being one of four drivers to surpass the symbolic 100-lap mark. His time, however, was achieved on super-soft tires.

First Frenchman on track in Barcelona, Esteban Ocon secured the fifth fastest time after a day that ended at 4:00 PM. Earlier, he caused the red flag to come out after an unexpected stop in the 10th turn. Test session also limited (68 laps) for Daniil Kyvat, who was sixth during his first laps of the season with Toro Rosso. The Faenza-based team encountered some minor technical issues that affected its running program.

Lance Stroll stealthier than McLaren!

But these damages are nothing compared to the problems faced by the McLaren-Honda duo at the very start of the season. Like yesterday, the MCL32 was hesitant. Stalled at the pit-lane entrance, Stoffel Vandoorne was the first driver to stop during this testing day. Long minutes were lost again. For a good cause, one might say. Zak Brown’s team revealed they had changed the entire power unit. That is the second engine fitted in two days… The Belgian was therefore only able to perform during the last hour, a small solace for a debut that is decidedly very complicated for the orange and black car.

Stoff fires-up for lap 28. #F1Testing pic.twitter.com/R9pW7wUBP1

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) February 28

Curiosity of the moment, Lance Stroll distinguished himself with an initial excursion into the gravel trap. At the same spot as Bottas, the Canadian had already laid the groundwork for a nice drift. The youngest of the class wasn’t as lucky. His FW40 got stuck, as you can see here. Worse, he broke his front wing during the adventure and prematurely halted his program.

All these adventures still brought happiness to two cars: Jolyon Palmer’s Renault and Antonio Giovinazzi’s Sauber, which utilized the extra 5 minutes granted this noon. After a short installation lap this morning, the Englishman had a studious afternoon with 53 laps on the Catalan tarmac.

Replacement at short notice for Pascal Wehrlein, the Italian had to wait for a change of his Ferrari engine. Freed from this constraint, he was the first to hit the track after the midday break. A productive end to the day also allowed him to bring his total to 66 laps once the checkered flag was presented at 6:00 PM.

The complete ranking of the day: