1st Pre-season Test: Day 2 Report
- Farhan Khurram
- Feb 20, 2019
- 9 min read
For the 1st Pre-season Test: Day 1 Report. Click here
Ferrari continued to top the lap time sheets on the 2nd day of testing as Charles Leclerc posted a staggering lap of 1:18.247 secs and accumulated 157 laps in total.
1st pre-season test continued for the 2nd day at Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, as 12 drivers and 9 teams hit the tarmac in order to evaluate and assess the performances of their cars.
Williams, unfortunately was the sole team absent from the track for 2nd consecutive day. It is believed that the British team might begin testing tomorrow afternoon.
Ferrari retains staggering pace and top spot on time sheets:
Charles Leclerc took over the testing responsibilities from Sebastian Vettel, as Ferrari once again, managed to outpace every other team on the grid. The Monegasque piled up 157 laps, with the quickest lap of the day of being 1:18.247s.
Ferrari is enjoying a highly reliable and eventful testing so far, as the SF90 has proved to have lived up to the expectations of the team. The car certainly looks extremely stable in the corners, with the rear end planted to the asphalt in the corners.
McLaren enjoys reliability and performance uplift:
McLaren's debutant and 2018 Formula 2 runner-up, Lando Norris had a splendid F1 debut as he lapped the circuit 104 times throughout the day. The British driver posted the 2nd best lap time of the day which was a 1:18.553s, just 0.306 slower than Leclerc's time.
“I think mileage was one of our main things compared to the last few years to improve on, so from that side of things," said Lando Norris.
“The main positive is we got over 100 laps”
"We’re happy, and obviously mileage is also good for myself to learn about the car and develop in the areas I’m not very good in.
“I don’t think there’s been any surprises. I think a lot of the things we tested or found out in the car, we had a decent understanding of.
"As a whole package, there’s obviously new things that we’ve learned from today and yesterday. But no surprises.”
It is noteworthy that McLaren has been enjoying a very reliable testing so far, with the MCL34 crossing 100 laps of mileage on both the days. The pairing of Sainz and Norris has also managed to slot the car in the 2nd spot on timesheets, just a few tenths shy of Ferrari's top time, on two consecutive days.
Norris also seemed quite upbeat regarding the performance of the car. He was all praise for the Woking based team and said: “It’s good confidence for myself and for the team, knowing that there’s not a lot to keep chasing up on and keep checking after every run."
"I think for the team side as well, it’s good for them knowing they’re going to be confident getting through every run plan possible through every day.”
“I managed to do some longer runs, something I haven’t managed to do so much of in any other tests so far,”
“So for myself it’s good to know that we can get through pretty much a whole day with no big problems."
"But it’s only day two"
“I’m sure we’re going to run into a couple of problems at some point, but it’s just making sure I guess that we can get through this whole test.
"We know what the problems might be on the car that could come up, so it’s just making sure we figure them out before Australia." commented Norris.
Gasly and Albon spin on their debuts for Red Bull and Toro Rosso:
Pierre Gasly, who was promoted from Toro Rosso to Red Bull, made his debut for the senior team today. The Frenchman's first day of testing with the Austrian team included one red flag stoppage, as Gasly spun his RB15 at turn-12 by the end of the day. Gasly finished 7th with his best lap time being a 1:19.814s.
Pierre Gasly expressed his thoughts saying that: “It was really amazing to do the winter break and I was really excited to get back and do my first day with Red Bull,”
“There is some really good potential and some things to understand with our package, the first feedback is good.
“It’s too early to talk about expectations"
"At the moment we need to understand the overall performance of our package."
"It is quite important for us that our first feedback and first impressions are quite good. Out of Turn 10 I went on the power and shifted to fifth and lost it."
"I was pushing the car to the limit and playing on the limits and went on throttle, lost the rear, and that was it. It was quite annoying to lose the hour of testing." explained Gasly.
“[But] we tested some really positive things, some others negative, and now we need to understand a bit more.”
His replacement at Toro Rosso, the British born Thai driver, Alexander Albon was the first driver to have brought out the red flags in morning, with just 1 minute into the testing. Albon lost control of his car and ended up in gravel trap at turn-4.
“Today was up there with one of my all-time great experiences!” commented an excited Albon.
“At the start I was thinking to myself ‘don’t spin it this morning’, and that’s exactly what I did!
“It’s been a really good day"
"It was really tricky out there because the track was so cold that you couldn’t drive slowly – as soon as you drive too slow, your tyres get cold."
"It becomes unpredictable and it’s like driving on ice."
"Once I got into my rhythm it was a smooth day and we had no issues, apart from a couple of spins later on."
"But I was just exploring the limits to see what the car was capable of.” he said.
Despite a horrific beginning to Albon's F1 career with Toro Rosso, the Thai driver finished with the 2nd highest count of laps by any driver at the end of the day - 132. Albon managed to lap Catalunya as quick as 1:19.301s, as he winded up his day being 4th on the time sheets.
Haas 3rd fastest at the end of the day, headrest troubles for Magnussen:
Kevin Magnussen managed to depose Alexander Albon off the 3rd position on timesheet, as the Danish driver clocked up a lap time of 1:19.206s later in the day. Magnussen contributed 59 laps to the total tally of 72 laps of Haas. Although, he later reported issues with his headrest, and hence, Fittipaldi was handed over the testing duties.
Kevin explained the struggles he went through as he couldn't move his head.
“I was sitting just with my head pointing forwards, so struggling to see,”
“The headrest was too far forward and when you sit like this and you brake, it's not easy… to drive anymore.
“That's something we need to fix"
"An easy fix but we don't have the parts, we don't have another headrest to fit, so we need to get that sorted.”
“The early impression is that it is feeling good,” he added.
“There's no big issues or inconsistencies and it’s nice to drive,"
"Predictable and those are positive things when you jump in a new car – that you don't jump in and feel uncomfortable… you get in and you feel like at home.
"I'm sure it could be a lot worse than where we are.”
The son of 2 times F1 world champion, Pietro Fittipaldi shared duties with Magnussen, and covered a mileage of a handful of 13 laps for the American team. He sat at the very bottom of the lap charts, given that he couldn't manage a time any better than 1:21.849s.
Mercedes continues impressive reliability and long run stints:
Lewis Hamilton steered his W10 out of the garage for the morning session, as he thoroughly tested the car for long runs. The defending world champions, Mercedes are expected to retain their dominance in terms of both the reliability and performance.
Mercedes was running heavy fuel loads, due to which, the 5 times world champion could only post a fastest lap of 1:19.928, which was the 10th best of the day. While appreciating the efforts of his team, Hamilton communicated:
"It's good that we're getting in a lot of mileage"
"And we will try to increase that over the next days as we continue to discover the characteristics of this car."
"That's the exciting part about it - learning something new and being faced with different challenges."
"Everyone is working so diligently."
His teammate, Valtteri Bottas was handed over the Mercedes W10 for the afternoon session. The Finn could only manage to record a lap time of 1:19.535s, which happens to be Silver Arrow's fastest of the testing so far. Both Bottas and Hamilton accrued 89 and 74 laps respectively, making Mercedes' total lap count of 163, the highest of any team today.
"For sure the car is always different, especially with the regulation changes." said Valtteri Bottas. "I think we are going to discover a lot about the car over the next few days."
Ricciardo encouraged by Renault's performance:
The Australian driver slotted himself just above Hamilton, in the 9th spot on the time sheets. His best lap was a 1:19.886s. But all was not well for Ricciardo. The 2018 Monaco GP winner highlighted how the DRS functionality differed from last year.
“The DRS system is different to last year – there’s more gains, creating more pressure. As soon as I braked, I lost the car…
“I guess it’s all obviously new bits”
"It turned out okay – I lost the rest of the morning but this is what testing is for.”
“From how I would expect the tyres to behave in a long run on this circuit,"
"I felt like the way I was able to bring the times back towards the end of the run… was quite good, quite encouraging."
"And obviously I mention the tyre but it’s the car, the way the car’s behaving... [So] just from my personal feeling, I felt quite encouraged by that run.”
With just 15 laps into his first stint in the morning session, the DRS flap of his rear wing detached, Ricciardo spun and stopped just a few inches short of the barriers. As a result of that, he could only amass 13 more laps before lunch break.
“I’m certainly trying to feed back things I feel in the car”
“I don't know the technical things, like I don't know, ‘We ran 0.2 degrees of this there and that’,
"But obviously I can just give what I feel in terms of, ‘Okay, in the mid-corner, when I come off to the brake, we were able to carry just a little bit more throttle, this is where we’re weak so this is an area we need to work on’, that sort of stuff.
“That’s where I guess the team will also rely on me to try to steer them in the right direction, and obviously, ‘Where was the Red Bull strong? Okay, is that an area we should put more emphasis on?’
"That kind of feedback, I guess, is useful for everyone.” he said.
His teammate, Nico Hulkenberg took over in the afternoon and went as fast as 1:19.837s, the 8th quickest lap time today. Hulkenberg finished the 2nd day of testing, adding his own 95 laps to Ricciardo's 28, as the total lap count of Renault stood at 123.
Alfa Romeo carries on impressive performance with Giovinazzi:
Kimi Raikkonen handed over his duties to the Italian driver, Antonio Giovinazzi for the 2nd day of testing. Giovinazzi finished with a 1:19.312s, that stood out as the 5th fastest lap today. He racked up a total of 101 laps for the Ferrari powered, Alfa Romeo team.
Lance Stroll makes debut for Racing Point:
Lance Stroll made his debut for the newly formed Racing Point F1 team, as he switched from Williams by the end of last year. Sergio Perez had been testing for Racing Point a day earlier but only managed to cover 30 laps. Lance Stroll on the other hand bagged 79 laps today and finished the day 2nd last on the time sheets, as he could only afford a personal best lap time of 1:20.433s.
Lance Stroll reflected upon his feelings of driving the new car for the first time. He stated: "It’s a special feeling when you head down the pit lane for the first time in the new car and release the pit limiter.”
“It was great to be back in the car after a few months and to get down to work"
“The general first impression is positive and we worked through the programme covering lots of laps with good reliability.”
“It’s early days working trackside with the team so I’m still building up my relationship with some of the crew and understanding how the team likes to approach things, but I already feel comfortable.” said the Canadian.
Among the 4 engine manufacturers, Ferrari managed to amass as many as 330 laps with Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Haas running the engine. Renault was a distant 2nd, as both the factory team as well as McLaren together stacked 227 laps in total.
Honda showed some promise and a highly improved reliability compared to previous years. Both the sister teams, Red Bull and Toro Rosso clocked a total of 224 laps today, ensuring a strong 2nd day of testing.
The benchmark engine and the current constructors' title defenders, managed to rack 242 laps, the 2nd highest of all the 4 engine manufacturers. This tally could've been as high as Ferrari's or perhaps, higher, had Williams not been absent from the testing for the 2nd consecutive day.
The 3rd day of the 1st pre-season test will commence at 08:00 GMT (13:00 PKT) on February 19th. Williams' FW42 is expected to hit the track in the afternoon session.
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