While Ferrari took the best time on the second day of testing in Barcelona, Red Bull had big problems and barely got any kilometres
No, this was not the test day Red Bull had imagined. World champion Max Verstappen’s racing team was beset by problems on the second day of testing in Barcelona, which kept the team from driving for long periods of time
The morning had already started badly with a gravel bed excursion and gearbox damage for Sergio Perez, but the problems continued into the afternoon. When Formula 1 resumed testing after midday, there was no sign of the Mexican for a long time.
Only more than two and a half hours after the start of the afternoon session did Perez take to the track again – a setback for the team, which managed almost 150 laps yesterday. Today it was just over half that many.
There wasn’t much sporting action from Red Bull on the second day of testing either: Perez was at the bottom of the timesheets for a long time, but managed to move up to seventh place shortly before the end – almost two seconds behind the leaders.
Ferrari at the top
This was formed by Ferrari on the second day. Charles Leclerc set a lap time of 1:19.689 on the medium C3 tyres, around a tenth of a second slower than Lando Norris the previous day. McLaren secured third place (+0.599 seconds) on the softer C4 tyres this time, behind AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly (+0.229), also on C4.
The Frenchman was also the busiest of all the drivers on day two, completing 146 laps, just one less than Max Verstappen on the previous day.
Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) had an unremarkable day, finishing sixth behind Carlos Sainz (5th/Ferrari) after his high-profile decision not to take part in the Russian Grand Prix.
Porpoising bugs teams
Surprisingly in last place: seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton (16th/Mercedes). The Briton had also spent a long time in the garage in the morning and only completed 40 laps. At least teammate George Russell got to drive more in the afternoon and also achieved a decent position with fourth place.
The Silver Arrows, like many other teams, were struggling with a new phenomenon: “porpoising” – a phenomenon where the car keeps hitting the road at fast speeds.
“That seems to be part of this year’s Formula 1 right now,” says Mick Schumacher, hoping that they can get a grip on the problem in the coming weeks. However, he doesn’t want to overstate it: “Yes, it’s noticeable at the end of the straight, but it’s still okay to do the laps and get around the track without too many problems. “
Better day for Haas
By the way, things went better for the German on Thursday than the day before. Although he spun in turn 13, he was able to complete 66 laps and thus provide his Haas team with important kilometres.
“After not being able to drive much yesterday, today we concentrated on doing as many laps as possible and trying out a few things accordingly. I thought everything we tried felt good. Accordingly, we are quite happy with the morning,” he said.
However, the glory for Haas did not last long: teammate Nikita Masepin was only able to take to the track an hour after the end of the lunch break and then caused the second red phase of the day when a problem with the fuel pump paralysed the Haas for the time being.
Schumacher finished 13th in the day’s standings, while Masepin was able to move past the German after the chequered flag fell and finished eighth.
Good debut for Guanyu Zhou
Alfa Romeo also had to worry about. Valtteri Bottas only completed 21 laps after renewed problems. But team-mate Guanyu Zhou did better in the afternoon: The Chinese celebrated a good debut and completed 71 laps – including a top-10 finish between the two Williams of Alexander Albon and Nicholas Latifi.
Meanwhile,
Alpine drove a little under the radar. Although Ocon put in a strong 125 laps, the Frenchman spent much of the day in last place and only managed to move ahead of Bottas and Hamilton, who had already been out since the lunch break, in the closing stages.
Tomorrow, Friday, is the final day of the first week of testing in Barcelona.
