The second pre-season test has begun with McLaren setting the early pace, while Ferrari and Mercedes have both hit stumbling blocks. Scuderia Ferrari German driver Sebastian Vettel spent the afternoon in the Maranello team’s SF90 and had a brief spell at the top of the times, before spending the latter part of the afternoon concentrating on long runs on the C4 and C3 compounds.
While Sebastian logged 81 laps, his teammate Charles Leclerc was limited to just 29 after Ferrari spent much of the morning checking its cooling system. He ended the day with the seventh-fastest time.
Mercedes, meanwhile, came armed to the second test with a new-look W10 sporting what is rumoured to be a Melbourne-spec upgrade package. The car featured a new front wing and nose, revised bargeboards, chassis fins and T-wing, as well as a new floor and more compact sidepods.
The data collection began well enough as Lewis Hamilton was able to post up 83 laps, but the roles with Ferrari reversed as the W10 then came to a grinding halt on Valtteri Bottas’ first lap of the afternoon session. Mercedes later confirmed the stoppage was because of an oil pressure problem and the power unit was changed as a result. Any PU change made in pre-season has no ramifications for the campaign ahead. But it did mean that both the big two lost out on some valuable track time for the first time in this pre-season testing period.
Antonio Giovinazzi knocked Pierre Gasly off top spot in the morning session, but it was McLaren’s young British hope, Lando Norris, who finished an eventful day top of the pile following a late surge in the afternoon.
Norris posted a 1:17.709 on what many believed was the C5 tyre (it’s hard to tell), pipping Gasly once again by a mere 0.006 seconds.
That is the fourth quickest time we have seen of the entire testing period so far, whilst rounding off the top three was Lance Stroll in the Racing Point car which is finally showing signs of life.
The second day of the second pre-season test will begin at 0900 local time on Wednesday.
Day One timesheet:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 80 laps 1:17.709 C5
2 Pierre Gasly Red Bull 136 laps 1:17.715 C3
3 Lance Stroll Racing Point 82 laps 1:17.824 C4
4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 81 laps 1:17.925 C3
5 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 99 laps 1:18.589 C4
6 Alexander Albon Toro Rosso 103 laps 1:18.649 C4
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 29 laps 1:18.651 C3
8 Kevin Magnussen Haas 131 laps 1:18.769 C4
9 George Russell Williams 119 laps 1:19.662 C5
10 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 77 laps 1:20.107 C2
11 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 7 laps 1:20.167 C2
12 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 83 laps 1:20.332 C2
13 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 80 laps 1:20.348 C3
C1 = Hardest tyre C5 = Softest tyre
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