Test Day 2: 49 laps for Charles Leclerc in the morning, as Mercedes ‘steering mode’ raises eyebrows. 49 laps for Charles Leclerc in the morning session.

Sergio Perez has topped the morning session at day two of testing in Barcelona, as the biggest talking point emerged from the Mercedes camp.

Video replays showed a system that the Silver Arrows are using, which changes the toe of the car by moving the steering wheel forwards and backwards along the straights. Hamilton set the most laps of any drivers during the four hours of running, clocking an impressive 107 laps before handing over to Valtteri Bottas in the second half of the day.

Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc was sixth for the Maranello team, ahead of Hamilton, who was central to the talk of the paddock during the morning. The Ferrari driver completed 49 laps and spent some time in the pits while the mechanics were working on the car. Charles’ best lap was a 1:18.335, in the first part of the morning session. German driver Sebastian Vettel is set to drive the car for the first time in the afternoon.

LUNCHTIME TIMESHEET

1. Sergio Perez, Racing Point, 48 laps, 1:17.347
2. Daniel Ricciardo, Renault, 41 laps, +0.402
3. Alex Albon, Red Bull, 59 laps, +0.808
4. Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri, 76 laps, +0.818
5. George Russell, Williams, 71 laps, +0.919
6. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 49 laps, +0.988
7. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 106 laps, +1.040
8. Romain Grosjean, Haas, 87 laps, +1.149
9. Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo, 65 laps, +1.161
10. Lando Norris, McLaren, 48 laps, +1.190