Sebastian Vettel was again fastest in his Ferrari on the second day of testing at Jerez as Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes hit technical issues and the McLaren struggled to put more laps on the board.
Vettel’s day was focused on set-up and tyre testing, and once he went fastest he was never dislodged at the top, gaining almost two seconds over his fastest time yesterday and finishing nine tenths ahead of Felipe Nasr, the rookie Brazilian keeping the Sauber in 2nd. Both teams might be heartened by being a lot closer to Mercedes in terms of laps completed today. Lewis Hamilton’s turn in the car still produced the longest run at 91 laps, but that’s some way off his teammate Nico Rosberg’s 157 from yesterday. This was because in the afternoon a failed water system part forced the Briton to pit, and any more meaningful laps were prevented by rain late on. So “just” 4th fastest for Lewis in the end, but he wasn’t disappointed when he spoke to Sky Sports News HQ: “Through testing everyone is using different fuel loads so it’s really irrelevant what position you are. What’s important is reliability and to prove out the car…The car feels good. I can’t really say too much more about it yet. We’ve just been driving around, which is not the most exciting part of testing, that’s for sure.”
SEE ALSO: Jerez Test #1: Vettel fastest, Rosberg runs the longest
The same cannot be said for Daniil Kvyat’s first run in the Red Bull. An apparently small off meant the only front wing the team had in Jerez came off, and the Russian was forced to do just simulation work for when that might happen in a race, without setting a representative laptime. It’s not the start the 20 year-old would have wanted in the big team, but he at least wasn’t alone in testing troubles. Jenson Button took over from Fernando Alonso in the new McLaren, but could only do six laps, the exact same amount his teammate did yesterday. The team are being quite coy on the precise cause of the car’s “electrical” issues, but insist they are small and that they believe in the car’s potential. Button himself admitted McLaren are at “zero in terms of understanding our performance” but was pragmatic about the early difficulties, saying “The car itself is a step forward in lots of areas, now it’s just about putting mileage on it.”
Lotus got their E23 running earlier than even they expected by this point yesterday, Pastor Maldonado managing 41 laps before drivetrain trouble ended his session, 17 year-old Max Verstappen got his first run in the new Toro Rosso, and Valtteri Bottas put in a another solid run in the Williams towards 3rd fastest.
Jerez Testing Day Two Results
- Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:20:984 88 laps
- Felipe Nasr Sauber-Ferrari 1:21.867 89 laps
- Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes1:22.319 61 laps
- Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:22.490 91 laps
- Max Verstappen Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:24.167 73 laps
- Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Mercedes 1:25.802 41 laps
- Jenson Button McLaren-Honda 1:54.655 6 laps
- Daniil Kvyat Red Bull-Renault No time 18 laps
