Barcelona F1 test day two
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There's a lack of giant gate-like sensors or aero paint on the McLaren, which is the norm at pre-season testing. Still, the McLaren looks great in papaya and blue.
Spotted on the roof: Renault team members walking back with bits of Ricciardo's rear wing, which lost its top section on track.
Norris has improved again. He pips Giovinazzi to fourth, with a 1m20.020s. Maybe the talk of Sainz being quicker encouraged him.
Norris's team-mate Carlos Sainz did a 1m18.558s in testing yesterday in what was a great start for McLaren. He did do that at the end of the day on the softer C4 tyre, though. Perhaps Norris can replicate that later.
In the meantime, he's alone on track as Hamilton has pitted from a productive stint. He's tallied 36 laps now.
In the meantime, he's alone on track as Hamilton has pitted from a productive stint. He's tallied 36 laps now.
Norris loved our encouragement, and rewards us with his best time so far of 1m20.171s. That's good enough for fifth overall.
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Speed trap so far today:
Leclerc (Ferrari) 321km/h
Albon (Toro Rosso) 319km/h
Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) 319km/h
Norris (McLaren) 317km/h
Hamilton (Mercedes) 315km/h
Ricciardo (Renault) 309km/h
Leclerc (Ferrari) 321km/h
Albon (Toro Rosso) 319km/h
Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) 319km/h
Norris (McLaren) 317km/h
Hamilton (Mercedes) 315km/h
Ricciardo (Renault) 309km/h
Norris comes through to start a lap. He's on the C2 tyres which he used to set his best time of 1m20.481s earlier in the session.
It's just Norris and Hamilton on track. Last year's Formula 2 runner-up Norris is another driver we're sure won't grow tired of hearing that phrase.
It's just Norris and Hamilton on track. Last year's Formula 2 runner-up Norris is another driver we're sure won't grow tired of hearing that phrase.
Just Norris and Hamilton on track at the moment, as the sun tries to break through the hazy clouds and brighten things up out there.
Hamilton improves, he sets a 1m19.928s. That's the quickest lap a Mercedes has set at the test so far. He's on the C3 tyre.
Hamilton and Albon are the only drivers on track now, a phrase new Toro Rosso driver Albon would surely love to hear.
He's not improving at the moment on the red, C4 tyre.
He's not improving at the moment on the red, C4 tyre.
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Hamilton is out to go for another run, while Leclerc pits the table-topping Ferrari.
Ricciardo has pitted after a very short run on the C3 tyres.
Correction: Norris is in the pits, he didn't return to the track.
There's dust at Turn 1, it looks like someone has had a small excursion there...
It's a quick in and out for Norris, who has the fourth quickest time so far.
Ricciardo also heads out on track. He only did the afternoon yesterday, exclusively on the C2 tyres. Today he's only used the softer, C3 compound.
Ricciardo also heads out on track. He only did the afternoon yesterday, exclusively on the C2 tyres. Today he's only used the softer, C3 compound.
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Latest lap count:
Gasly 36Giovinazzi 35Leclerc 31Hamilton 27Ricciardo 25Norris 20Stroll 18Albon 13Magnussen 9
Gasly 36Giovinazzi 35Leclerc 31Hamilton 27Ricciardo 25Norris 20Stroll 18Albon 13Magnussen 9
On track at the moment, we have Leclerc (C2), Giovinazzi (C3), Norris (C2) and Albon (C4). No one is challenging their personal best times at the moment.
Stopwatch
Leclerc drops into the 1m18s with a 1m18.9s, still on C2 tyres.
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Another improvement for Norris, who puts in a 1m20.839s on C2 tyres.
Norris has switched to the harder C2 tyre and improved on his earlier time. He's now seventh on a 1m21.586s.
Giovinazzi moves ahead of Stroll into third with a 1m20.119s on C3 tyres.
Magnussen finds another tenth with a 1m21.604s.
Magnussen moves ahead of Albon with his next lap - 1m21.995s.
Magnussen's first time of the day is a 1m23.414s.
Magnussen starts his first flying lap of the day in the Haas. Hopefully he stays out and posts a lap time, then we have a full set of drivers on the leaderboard - of the teams that we know are in action today (sorry Williams).
It's good to see Ricciardo up there for Renault this morning. The team made a very quiet start yesterday in terms of lap times, but its new signing has gone more than one second quicker than he and team-mate Hulkenberg managed yesterday. No other teams have improved on their best times from day one yet.
Stroll improves again, joining Hamilton on a 1m20.7s and going fractionally faster than the Mercedes driver.
Albon returns to the pits with a big splash of green aero paint down the side of his Toro Rosso. We assume that was on the car when he left the pits too.
Gary Anderson
The idea of Formula 1 switching to a common gearbox sounds good on paper, but to give the manufacturers until March 15 to tender is ridiculous because to do it properly and understand it takes far more time than that. It seems somebody doesn’t realise the scale of the job.
Setting that aside Haas, Alfa Romeo, Racing Point and Toro Rosso use gearboxes manufactured by someone else so there is something in it because not all teams make their own gearboxes. But it does take away some of the challenge of being an F1 team and we don’t want it to become a kit car formula.
If I was still a technical director, I would be arguing against this solution. Every team thinks their design is the bee’s knees and won’t want to give that up. And I can’t see this happening because of the time constraints.
Setting that aside Haas, Alfa Romeo, Racing Point and Toro Rosso use gearboxes manufactured by someone else so there is something in it because not all teams make their own gearboxes. But it does take away some of the challenge of being an F1 team and we don’t want it to become a kit car formula.
If I was still a technical director, I would be arguing against this solution. Every team thinks their design is the bee’s knees and won’t want to give that up. And I can’t see this happening because of the time constraints.
Another improvement from Stroll as he sets a 1m21.278s.
Stroll improves to go sixth with a 1m21.302s on C3 tyres.
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Hamilton moves up another place with a 1m20.742s.
Stopwatch
Leclerc finds a nice chunk of time next time by, setting a new fastest time of the day with a 1m19.172s on his C2 tyres. Hamilton also improves, now using the C3s, to go fifth with a 1m21.306s.
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Leclerc kicks things off on this C2-tyres run with a 1m20.5s, which is 1.1s slower than his best so far this morning.
Leclerc and Hamilton join Ricciardo on track.
1m21.799s now for Norris, who returns to the pits with 11 laps to his name for the day.
By: Geoff Creighton
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