Paul Jeffrey
Premium
The second day of Formula One testing is over, and it was a day dominated by incredible reliability, an ever young Kimi Raikonnen and 'that' steering wheel movement from Mercedes...
Two days down, four to go until the 2020 Grand Prix grid ships off to Australia for the opening round of the new Formula One season at the beautiful Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, Australia on March 15th.
Much like yesterday, the track action would be relentless as most teams easily broke the 100 lap barrier during a clear day of uninterrupted running at Barcelona - the only red flag falling right at the very end of the session as Alfa Romeo driver Kimi Raikkonen ground to a halt with just 15 minutes left of the day to run.
Despite the unplanned stoppage, Raikkonen would end day 2 with a very impressive 134 laps on the board, and a time quick enough to wrap up top spot in the final standings, 0.256 quicker than the impressive 'pink Mercedes' of Sergio Perez in second. We say pink Mercedes, because the new Racing Point RP20 looks decidedly similar to the 2019 Championship winning Mercedes W10, helped enormously no doubt by the technology arrangement between the two teams that see engine, gearbox and front and rear suspension shared between the two outfits.
Take nothing away from the performance of Racing Point though, this is the second consecutive day that Perez has looked to be every bit a match for the more established squads around him, showing plenty of encouragement for a team that have struggled in recent seasons with ownership and development difficulties, firmly beginning to put those woes behind them in the their final year before morphing into the works Aston Martin team next year.
Further down the order the day would bring plenty of off-track moments for a number of drivers, with the most dramatic of which falling to the very busy Romain Grosjean in the Haas Ferrari. Grosjean would have a hectic day of running behind the wheel, logging a very solid 158 laps before losing the car into the outside barriers with just 20 minutes remaining - bringing a slightly early end to the day for team and driver after a productive few hours of running in the VF-20.
Williams would continue their strong start to pre-season testing, George Russell again on driving duties for the British team as they performed another solid day of action with a very respectable 116 laps recorded over the course of day 2 running - enough to secure Russell seventh overall in the final times, just over a second shy of the pace setting Alfa Romeo at the top of the charts.
Oh yeah, Mercedes did something interesting with their steering wheel too, but I'm sure you've heard all about that already...
Formula One Pre-Season Testing Times (Day 2)
Two days down, four to go until the 2020 Grand Prix grid ships off to Australia for the opening round of the new Formula One season at the beautiful Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, Australia on March 15th.
Much like yesterday, the track action would be relentless as most teams easily broke the 100 lap barrier during a clear day of uninterrupted running at Barcelona - the only red flag falling right at the very end of the session as Alfa Romeo driver Kimi Raikkonen ground to a halt with just 15 minutes left of the day to run.
Despite the unplanned stoppage, Raikkonen would end day 2 with a very impressive 134 laps on the board, and a time quick enough to wrap up top spot in the final standings, 0.256 quicker than the impressive 'pink Mercedes' of Sergio Perez in second. We say pink Mercedes, because the new Racing Point RP20 looks decidedly similar to the 2019 Championship winning Mercedes W10, helped enormously no doubt by the technology arrangement between the two teams that see engine, gearbox and front and rear suspension shared between the two outfits.
Take nothing away from the performance of Racing Point though, this is the second consecutive day that Perez has looked to be every bit a match for the more established squads around him, showing plenty of encouragement for a team that have struggled in recent seasons with ownership and development difficulties, firmly beginning to put those woes behind them in the their final year before morphing into the works Aston Martin team next year.
Further down the order the day would bring plenty of off-track moments for a number of drivers, with the most dramatic of which falling to the very busy Romain Grosjean in the Haas Ferrari. Grosjean would have a hectic day of running behind the wheel, logging a very solid 158 laps before losing the car into the outside barriers with just 20 minutes remaining - bringing a slightly early end to the day for team and driver after a productive few hours of running in the VF-20.
Williams would continue their strong start to pre-season testing, George Russell again on driving duties for the British team as they performed another solid day of action with a very respectable 116 laps recorded over the course of day 2 running - enough to secure Russell seventh overall in the final times, just over a second shy of the pace setting Alfa Romeo at the top of the charts.
Oh yeah, Mercedes did something interesting with their steering wheel too, but I'm sure you've heard all about that already...
Formula One Pre-Season Testing Times (Day 2)
