Barcelona II, day 2: Grosjean fastest again

On the second day of the final Formula 1 winter test in Barcelona, where things got off to a somewhat different start this morning then seen before this year, it would be Romain Grosjean in the Lotus F1 E20 who would top the time sheets again, for a second consecutive day. Grosjean also becomes the first driver this year to top the time sheets on two different days in winter testing.

Testing was delayed by thirty minutes this morning due to a heavy fog which settled over the Circuit de Catalunya, and when the Green Flag was finally waved, teams would then be restricted for a further fifteen minutes to just installation laps as track officials waited until the track was safe for racing speeds.

When things finally got underway fully, Grosjean would have a fairly subdued morning, running a series of general data collection tests. However, as the afternoon session started, Lotus F1 would have an impressive set of outings. Completing 123 laps in total, Grosjean would complete a full race simulation of 60 laps in the afternoon on a variety of the Pirelli compounds made available to the teams. Then within a few minutes of the end of the days session, which had been extended by thirty minutes to make up for the mornings loss of time, Grosjean would appear on track for one final outing. With a set of the soft tyres on the car, Grosjean would post a final flying lap of 1:22.614, good enough for P1 and a full half second ahead of second place man Jean Eric Vergne.

Vergne, the rookie driver at Toro Rosso, occupied the top slot most of the day despite only completing 31 laps the entire day. Just before the morning session came to an end, the STR 7 caught fire, bringing one of many red flags to the morning session, and with an on-going engine problem, the team would have limited running time throughout the afternoon. With a brief appearance for pit stop practice at the end of the day, Vergne would not improve his second place position overall for the day.

Both Romain Grosjean and Jean Eric Vergne have now completed their test sessions in their respective cars for winter testing. Next time they are in their cars for racing purposes will be in Australia when the season kicks off at the end of March.

Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull Racing RB8 had a decent afternoon in the car, improving his mornings run in fourth position to a final end of day position of third on the time sheets and 85 laps to his name. A surprise announcement from the Red Bull camp would come late in the day though, much to the surprise of the worlds media and Formula 1 teams alike. The team announced that they would be [effectively] launching a new car for the final two days testing in Barcelona, a car which would be full spec for Australia. The team have apparently redesigned the car chassis, as well as adapting and introducing other new features. The full design will have to wait to be seen until tomorrow morning however.

Fernando Alonso would finally complete more than 100 laps in his Ferrari F2012 today, finishing fourth overall on the time sheets, and tallying the highest number of laps of anyone today – 124. Alonso would not improve on the time he set throughout the morning’s session, with the team choosing instead to focus on full race simulation in the afternoon, using both soft and medium tyre compounds. Interesting to note, the soft tyres only managed to complete 5 laps on the car before the lap times started to fade away. The same happened on the medium compound, with the tyres lasting 12 laps.

Heikki Kovalainen, back in the Caterham F1 CT-01 after suffering from food poisoning yesterday and missing his first days testing, would complete 104 laps today and finished fifth overall. Right behind him was Kamui Kobayashi in the Sauber C31. With 77 laps on the car, his running time would be restricted in the afternoon as the car suffered from a hydraulics leak.

Nico Hulkenberg and the Sahara Force India team had a disappointing day. With only 33 laps complete, the car would suffer from a drive-line problem before the lunch break, and the car would not be seen again for the day. Seventh on the time sheets was the best time he would manage before the problems ended the team’s day.

Michael Schumacher, in the Mercedes AMG F1 W03 today, also had a turbulent day. With the car stopping a few times on track throughout the morning, and a hefty trip across the gravel trap in the morning, Schumacher would eventually finish with a time good enough for eighth for the day.

In a surprisingly uneventful afternoon for the McLaren team, Lewis Hamilton would complete only 65 laps today, and achieve a time of just 1:24.111 which would result in a ninth place on the time sheets.

Bruno Senna and Pastor Maldonado, sharing the duties in the Williams F1 FW34 today, would round out the runners today, finishing tenth and eleventh. Between two and three seconds off the pace, Williams F1 Team would use the day to practice their pit stops for race days. Both drivers’ crews were on hand throughout the day, and Williams had one of the busiest garages in Barcelona today.

Day 2 Session times and total lap numbers can be seen below. Day 3 of testing in Barcelona starts tomorrow at 09:00 CET.

Follow me on Twitter - @IrvineF1