Lewis Hamilton tops morning session in Barcelona

Published on 02 March 2016 by Stefan Meens

Lewis Hamilton led the way during the morning session on day two of the second and last Formula 1 pre-season test. The world champion, who set his time on the soft Pirelli tyre, lapped the Circuit de Catalunya three tenths faster than Renault’s Kevin Magnussen. The Dane set his fastest time on the faster super-soft compound. Sebastian Vettel put in a solid performance by completing the top three.

Max Verstappen’s team mate Carlos Sainz drove the STR11 today. The Toro Rosso driver set the seventh fastest lap of the morning and completed another good amount of laps (59). 

Newcomer Haas had another difficult day with Esteban Gutierrez only managing an installation lap after a fault with the turbo was discovered. Despite replacing the turbo last night, issues still occurred. The American outfit is hoping to find a solution and send Gutierrez out for valuable track time later today.

The Mexican was not de only driver side-lined. Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson’s first run in the new C35 did not extend beyond a handful of installation laps. However, shortly before the lunchbreak the problems appear to be fixed. The Swiss team are hoping to make up for lost time in the afternoon.

Meanwhile at the front, Lewis Hamilton completed the most laps of anyone, bringing his tally for the day up to 73. His 1:23.622 proved to be fast enough to top the timing tables. Kevin Magnussen came close to the Britton’s time, but only on the faster super-soft tyre. Further down the field most teams lapping the Barcelona circuit seemingly without issues.

Pre-season testII, day 2 - Circuit de Catalunya - Wednesday 2 March 2016

1.	Hamilton	Mercedes		1:23.622			73	
2.	Magnussen	Renault			1:23.933	+0.311		56	
3.	Vettel		Ferrari			1:24.611	+0.989		63	
4.	Bottas		Williams		1:25.151	+1.529		57	
5.	Button		McLaren		        1:25.183	+1.561		45	
6.	Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing		1:25.235	+1.613		42	
7.	Sainz		Toro Rosso		1:25.300	+1.678		59	
8.	Perez		Force India		1:26.188	+2.566		58	
9.	Wehrlein	Manor F1		1:27.064	+3.442		42	
10.	Ericsson	Sauber			1:30.309	+6.687		7	
11.	Gutierrez	Haas F1			no time set			1