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Formula 1

Barcelona F1 test two day two

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Ocon pits the Force India, meanwhile.
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We'll have a lunchtime report coming shortly, despite the lack of a break...
"A man may be a pessimistic determinist before lunch and an optimistic believer in the will's freedom after it," quoth Aldous Huxley. Sadly we shan't be exploring the veracity of that maxim today - "Time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly so" as Douglas Adams said.
Amid that excitement, Stroll pitted the Williams, so it's just Ricciardo, Hamilton, Ocon and now Leclerc circulating.
Stopwatch
New best time of the day from Ricciardo! It's a 1m18.047s, putting him 0.353s clear of Hamilton - and breaking Massa's 2008 (unofficial) lap record.
Without wishing to fall back on national stereotyping, we know that in France lunch is sacrosanct; Renault announce that Sainz's morning running is over. 88 laps on the board and some fine comestibles no doubt heading to the garage as a reward.
Stroll and Ocon both post personal best sectors, but don't improve their times either.
Ricciardo teased us with a purple middle sector on a fresh set of hypersofts, but a slower last sector means it's no improvement from the Australian. As you were.
As Gordon Gekko memorably said, "Lunch is for wimps."
Just as we say that, though, Ricciardo and Ocon both leave the pits.
Still, it's reasonable to conclude that the relative paucity of cars out on the track at the moment is connected to teams serving up comestibles.
Leclerc pits the Sauber after a very brief run, so it's just Hamilton and Stroll out on track now as we approach 1pm local time. No lunch break today, so there will be no official pause in the action.
Track temperature creeping up again after a half-hour plateau; it's now 36.1C and the ambient is up to 13.4. We can't see it climbing too much further though.
Leclerc putting those supersofts to good use as he improves to a 1m21.110s. Leaves him 10th still, mind.
Hamilton donning the red-mark supersofts this time, as is Leclerc.
Sainz has pitted the Renault, having now done 88 laps. Hamilton heads, out, meanwhile...
Ocon pits, replaced on track by countryman Leclerc.
Red Bull indulges in a spot of pitstop practice before pushing Ricciardo back in the garage. 75 laps down today for the Australian, which is second only to Sainz (86 and counting).
Stroll has just headed out of the pits. Ricciardo also came in a moment ago, only to head back out straight away.
Besides Ricciardo, Sainz and Ocon are the only other cars circulating right now.
You can almost look into the eyes of our new pacesetter in this shot from LAT Images

You can almost look into the eyes of our new pacesetter in this shot from LAT Images

That, though, is not a new unofficial lap record.

It stands at 1m18.339s, set by Felipe Massa on April 14, 2008.
Stopwatch
FASTEST. Ricciardo goes to the top with a 1m18.357s. He shades Hamilton by 0.043s.
And the best middle sector of anyone. The excitement is real.
Ricciardo sets a personal best first sector. Do you feel the excitement?
Vettel's boasted some fine consistency in this stint. Still lapping in the low-1m20s. Ricciardo starts his first hypersoft lap.
Leclerc brings his soft-tyre run to an end. Up to 67 laps for Sauber.
Out goes Ricciardo with a fetching set of pink boots. Red Bull goes for hypersofts.
Stroll and Hartley have ended their runs, leaving the track to Vettel and Leclerc.
Back to back low-1m20s for Vettel on mediums. Hartley, on supersofts, fails to improve after a personal best middle sector.
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Now Stroll jumps Ocon and moves into seventh on a 1m20.349s.
Leclerc also improves, but stays last. He's 2.7s off the pace on a 1m21.172s.
Stroll moves above Hartley to eighth on a 1m20.811s. He's on soft tyres.
Hamilton's back in the pits now. Vettel's out on track, as are the four drivers at the bottom of the times: Ocon, Hartley, Stroll and Leclerc.
Stopwatch
And there Hamilton goes – a 1m18.400s. A cool down lap and then a push, and he's ever-so-close to the lap record.
Dangerous to make assumptions but one wonders if the multiple violations of track limits, and the fairly common occurrence of good laps coming undone in the final sector, suggests the final chicane is proving a bit of a handful.
Hamilton, on the hypersofts, fails to improve. Final sector mistake? His time is a 1m18.723s.

By: Geoff Creighton

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