Grosjean puts Lotus top on second morning of F1 testing at Mugello
Romain Grosjean put Lotus on top as the second morning of in-season testing at Mugello came to a close
In contrast to the torrential weather which blighted the opening day, conditions were dry almost from the outset, allowing teams the chance to catch up with their disrupted programmes.
Many therefore opted to run with periscope gauges or various aero sensors rather than chase times.
Such priorities would not diminish Grosjean's pace, however, as he pulled clear of the field after barely an hour in and never looked under threat thereafter. He ended the morning on a 1m21.603s.
Mark Webber, in the Red Bull for this morning before handing over to reigning champion Sebastian Vettel for the final day and a half, ended the morning as Grosjean's nearest challenger.
Webber had run second for much of the morning, still more than 1.5s adrift of the Frenchman, but in the final hour a medium-tyre run allowed him to close to within four tenths. The pair were the only two to dip below the 1m22s mark.
Felipe Massa kept Ferrari near the top by going third fastest, despite a programme which saw him make several low speed runs early on and run with a periscope gauge attached to his roll hoop for almost the duration.
Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne ended fourth ahead of Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi and Mercedes' Michael Schumacher, with the German managing 74 laps, the most of any driver.
That was in stark contrast to Paul di Resta, who managed just seven laps and failed to set a time in the Force India. The team said an issue with the hydraulics was the most likely cause of its woes, but it remains optimistic of running before the end of the day.
The Scot propped up the timesheets as a result, separated from Schumacher by Charles Pic (Marussia), Vitaly Petrov (Caterham), Gary Paffett (McLaren) and Bruno Senna (Williams).
Pos Driver Team Time 1. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m21.603s 2. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m21.997s + 0.294s 3. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m22.257s + 0.654s 4. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m22.422s + 0.819s 5. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m22.424s + 0.821s 6. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m23.404s + 1.801s 7. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m23.982s + 2.379s 8. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1m24.312s + 2.709s 9. Gary Paffett McLaren-Mercedes 1m24.480s + 2.877s 10. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1m25.221s + 3.618s 11. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes No time All Timing Unofficial
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