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Formula 1

Barcelona F1 test day two

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Let's check in on today's current lap counts:

Norris 116
Grosjean 114
Gasly 109
Perez 108
Raikkonen 108
Hamilton 106
Albon 89
Russell 85
Bottas 64
Leclerc 49
Ricciardo 41
Vettel 34
Ocon 28
One thing we'd noticed last year is that Norris liked to drop gears at Turn 9, going into fifth gear to get the turn-in. Apparently that's a sim-racing technique, and McLaren has ironed that out of him this time around...
Down at Turn 9, you can really see Mercedes running a bit lower than the others - Bottas kicks up a bit more dust into the right-hander. Not that it fazes him, as he looked very planted.
Information
Here's the leaderboard with less than two hours remaining:

1 Perez 1m17.347s
2 Ricciardo +0.402s
3 Albon +0.636s
4 Gasly +0.774s
5 Russell +0.919s
6 Vettel +0.926s
7 Leclerc +0.988s
8 Hamilton +1.040s
9 Grosjean +1.149s
10 Raikkonen +1.161s
11 Norris +1.190s
12 Ocon +1.210s
13 Bottas +3.684s
Gasly and Ocon have both returned to the track after spells in the garage.
One man who does improve is Valtteri Bottas. Despite nearing the end of his race simulation, he turns in a PB of 1m21.095s.
After a cool-off lap, Albon pushes again, but is four-tenths off his best in the Red Bull. Raikkonen has become the latest man to pass the 100-lap mark for the day with his latest outing in the Alfa Romeo.
Starting a new run, Albon makes an improvement for Red Bull to rise up to third overall on a 1m17.983s. He's six-tenths off Perez's benchmark.
Bottas makes another gain in the middle sector on his most recent lap, but is still a tenth off his PB overall.
Two hours left in the day now! Perez is still quickest for Racing Point ahead of Ricciardo and Gasly.
Bottas records a new PB in Sector 1 en route to improving his time - 1m21.126s. He's last on the timesheets, but with the focus only on long-run pace, appears to be in a good groove.
Valentin Khorounzhiy notes Mercedes is on course to complete 200 laps today. It currently has 154 on the board (Hamilton 106, Bottas 48) with a little over two hours to go.
Vettel has moved up the order a little bit with his latest effort, rising to P6 for Ferrari. His time of 1m18.273s leaves him nine tenths off Perez at the top.
Bottas is now into the low 1m21s with a fresh set of tyres. He's out on-track currently with Gasly, Vettel, Norris and Russell.
Gasly is now over the 100-lap mark for the day. He finds time in the first sector with his latest lap, but cannot string it together for an overall improvement, meaning he stays P3.
Bottas took another set of C2 tyres, and now has 19 laps left in this stint - so he's getting towards the end of his simulation. The Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona is 66 laps.
Bottas completes a pitstop as part of his race simulation.
George Russell is now out on-track in the Williams as he looks to build on a positive start to testing for the team. He's just one-tenth of a second his best time from last year's pre-season - and we're not even at the end of day two yet!
Sebastian Vettel is out of his car after completing his latest run, and is debriefing with the Ferrari engineers. This is his first extended outing in the SF1000, having missed yesterday's running through illness.
Bottas is continuing to pound around the circuit on his long run. He's keeping it consistent in the 1m22s range on the C2 tyres.
Our technical expert TIM WRIGHT has been at Turn 9, timing the cars from that section to the chicane. "The Haas, Ferrari and Mercedes are all pretty strong through that section, the Haas in particular, the trio then followed by the Racing Point and the McLaren. The Haas looks particularly impressive there."
Crash
Kimi Raikkonen becomes the latest driver to spin at the chicane. He was coming in at speed and gave the kerb on the inside a clout. He's back going again. Alex and JBL report the Finn was pushing hard into Turn 10 just before.
Jake Boxall-Legge
"Grosjean, meanwhile, is enjoying multiple lock-ups at T10 - the Haas still doesn't seem to lend itself to his late-braking style."
Jake Boxall-Legge
"The Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull all flashed past together - Bottas is taking a wider line through 12, as Vettel and Albon hug the kerb a bit more."
Vettel has pitted at the end of seven-lap stint on the C3 tyres.
Gasly and Ocon have made improvements with their latest runs. Gasly moves up to P3 for AlphaTauri, displacing Albon (shoe on the other foot?) while Ocon stays P12 for Renault.
Jake Boxall-Legge
We've sent our intrepid reporters JAKE BOXALL-LEGGE and ALEX KALINAUCKAS trackside for this afternoon's running. JBL has just checked in with this update: "There's a nice little battle between Bottas and Grosjean hotting up! The Ferrari looks pretty set for traction coming out of the corner, while Albon's a little tentative after going deep a couple of laps ago."
Albon goes for another push lap, but cannot improve, lapping six-tenths off his best so far.
Nope - Albon makes a mistake at Turn 10, running wide and losing all the time he gained, meaning he stays third overall.
And Albon is wasting little time in getting up to speed on his latest outing, improving through the first two sectors. Will this be a new PB?
Alexander Albon has returned to the track on a set of C2 tyres. He's racked up 61 laps so far today to sit P3 overall, eight-tenths off Sergio Perez's benchmark time.
It's P8 for Vettel on a time of 1m18.431s. That puts him between Hamilton and Grosjean.
Another green sector through the second split. Where will Vettel move up to?
Vettel looks to be heading for a new PB. He's gone green in Sector 1, running on a set of C3 tyres.
Perez is very much in long run territory right now on the C2 tyre, lapping in the 1m22s range.
Sebastian Vettel has just ventured out to start a new run for Ferrari, joining Norris, Raikkonen, Bottas and Perez on the track.

By: Geoff Creighton

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