Barcelona F1 test, Day 2: Leclerc tops timesheet on second day

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc set the fastest time on the second day of Formula 1’s pre-season shakedown in Spain. The Monegasque driver set his best time of 1:19.689 late in the day with AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly second ahead of the morning’s quickest driver Daniel Ricciardo.

Leclerc used the C3 medium compound Pirelli tyres to set his best time while Gasly, who also set his time late, used the C34 soft tyre, as did Ricciardo.

Ricciardo had been in charge for the bulk of the afternoon after he claimed top spot just before the lunch break, with the Australian setting a time of 1:20.355 soon after running resumed following this week’s first red flag, caused by Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Pérez who stopped on track. Ricciardo’s late morning lap robbed Leclerc’s team-mate Carlos Sainz of top spot at the halfway point.

Ricciardo improved in the afternoon to log a best time of 1:20.288, a time that cemented him in third place behind Gasly.

It was a good day for AlphaTauri, with Gasly not only claiming P2 on the timesheet but also posting the largest single driver lap total with 147. Ferrari led the way overall, with Sainz completing 71 laps and Leclerc adding 79 laps.

George Russell took fourth place at the end of the session, posting 66 laps in the afternoon after Lewis Hamilton, who finished a lowly 16th, got through only 40 laps in the morning session. After Lance Stroll set a morning time eventually good enough 12th, Sebastian Vettel drove the Aston Martin in the afternoon and finished sixth and six tenths clear of Pérez. The Red Bull driver’s day was interrupted by a late morning gearbox problem and with the repairs eating into his afternoon running, Pérez managed a total of 77 laps on his way to P7.

Eight place in the session went to Haas’ Nikita Mazepin, though the Russian driver also hit trouble during the day, with a fuel pump problem causing his stop at the side of the track midway through the afternoon.

2022 rookie Guanyu Zhou set a best time of 1:21.885s on the C3 tyres on his first day with Alfa Romeo to round out the top 10. A troubled morning for Alfa saw Valtteri Bottas complete just 21 laps.