Barcelona Testing – Day 2: Räikkönen Tops the Time Sheets Before Alfa Romeo Breakdown

On this second day of winter testing under the sun of Barcelona in Spain, a calm day was expected, like the one experienced yesterday during the first day.

The morning was first marked by the discovery of an innovation credited to Mercedes: the DAS for Dual Axis Steering. This innovation was quite well-tested by the team since Hamilton completed more than 100 laps in the morning before Bottas in the afternoon did 77. This brings the total mileage of the Mercedes today to 183 laps.

In the afternoon, the drivers were quite diligent on track. Sebastian Vettel drove for the first time this season, after being sick yesterday. He took over from Leclerc, who was driving this morning. The two Ferrari drivers were able to complete 122 laps of the Catalunya circuit.

Sergio Pérez was at the top of the timesheet for a long time, until the last hour when Kimi Räikkönen finally took the first position just before breaking down in turn 8, leaving the Alfa Romeo in the hands of the tow truck. Kimi Räikkönen thus became the first driver to cause a red flag. The Finn still managed to complete 134 laps with his car since this morning.

Note that Pérez with 145 laps and Romain Grosjean with 158 laps were very enduring today. The Haas driver only made a small mistake in the middle of the afternoon by spinning out.

The drivers completed a total of 1369 laps, with an average of 105 laps per driver. Yesterday’s average was 90 laps per driver.

Results of the second day of winter testing in Barcelona: