Barcelona F1 test two day two
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Vettel does the same, although he's a second faster than Ocon.
Ocon ends his most recent lap on this run with a personal best in the final sector. He's in the high-1m21s.
Ricciardo makes it six of the best on track.
That puts the Mercedes driver 1.5s clear...
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Hamilton sets a new (unofficial) lap record! 1m18.317s. Wow.
We've got half the drivers on track at the moment. Hamilton, Sainz, Vettel, Ocon and Hartley all out there.
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Hamilton dips below 1m19s for the first time – a 1m18.945s. He's now 0.911s clear of Alonso's McLaren.
Vettel finished his last lap with two personal best sectors but was a tenth slower overall.
And Hamilton sets a new fastest first sector immediately.
Stopwatch
Hamilton goes quicker: a 1m19.125s. Now we have a real new fastest time from testing so far.
Hamilton sets a 1m19.9s. Sainz's latest lap either had a mistake or he backed off, as it was a fair few seconds off.
Here is a look at Hamilton running those unmarked tyres, which are mediums (made in a different Pirelli factory).
Vettel kicks off with a 1m21.721s. Hamilton goes quickest of anyone in the middle sector.
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Vettel starts his first lap on soft tyres.
Looks like Hamilton's back out on those unmarked mediums.
Vettel heads back out again. Funny how Mercedes and Ferrari have ended up on track at the same time a lot.
Sainz completes another lap in the mid-1m21s on medium tyres. He's about to get a friend on track as Hamilton heads for the pitlane exit.
Thanks to that Pirelli explanation (see post from 10:11) we're going to upgrade Hamilton from 'unmarked' tyres to mediums in our little timing box. Just in case our eagle-eyed readers spot the difference!
Alonso's back in the pits now, so Sainz is left to his own devices on track.
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Alonso, meanwhile, merrily begins his 33rd lap – seven more than anyone else.
Sainz starts his first flying lap on this medium tyre run. He and Renault are about the become the second-busiest pairing of the morning.
Alonso's run still constantly in the 1m21s. He and Leclerc now have Sainz on track for company.
Meanwhile, Renault tell us that Sainz suggested a brief time out because the track was still too slippery to conduct meaningful balance checks.
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So for clarity: Hamilton's the quickest so far with a 1m19.404s. Cynicism vindicated.
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Aha, there we go: Ocon loses that time for track limits at Turn 14.
Alonso's lapping in the high 1m21s on supersofts.
Alonso, meanwhile, has moved onto his 29th lap. He's been the busiest driver so far.
Grosjean ends his run in the Haas on soft tyres.
Leclerc's new personal best is a 1m21.432s and Sauber's Ferrari protege shows no signs of slowing down as he pops in a new best first sector time, too.
Well, no indication from race control that Ocon's losing his lap time to a track limits violation at the final chicane or something like that. So he's P1 on a 1m19.067s, the fastest time of testing so far and three tenths clear of Hamilton. We don't mean to sound cynical, but you never know.
Grosjean sets a 1m20.330s in seventh place. He's just 1.2s off the pace. Close spread.
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Here's some information on those unmarked tyres Hamilton used to good effect, with help from our friends at Pirelli:
They’re medium compound tyres. There are two F1 factories, in Turkey and Romania. The Romania one is used at the moment, but there’s the production line in Turkey as well. So those are medium tyres produced in Turkey, as opposed to Romania.
Hamilton is running them to benchmark against the Romania ones - but they’re meant to be identical in every way. The same thing was done at the test last year. It's quite a common occurence.
They’re medium compound tyres. There are two F1 factories, in Turkey and Romania. The Romania one is used at the moment, but there’s the production line in Turkey as well. So those are medium tyres produced in Turkey, as opposed to Romania.
Hamilton is running them to benchmark against the Romania ones - but they’re meant to be identical in every way. The same thing was done at the test last year. It's quite a common occurence.
Stopwatch
Ocon goes quickest! On soft tyres! Where's that come from? A 1m19.067s from the Force India...although oddly it was not even a personal best until a fastest final sector so far.
Now Hamilton has pit (or will pit properly at the end of this lap after completing the usual practice start procedure), Alonso's latest run on supersofts gives him chance to move back in front in terms of laps completed. Hamilton's on 26, Alonso on 23.
Leclerc's next lap is a 1m22.393s.
By: Geoff Creighton
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