Barcelona testing day two: Raikkonen fastest for Ferrari

Despite not topping the time sheets on the opening day of Formula One winter testing for the first time since 2013, Ferrari showed promising pace on the second day of action in Barcelona, with Kimi Raikkonen leading the way.

Finn Raikkonen set a time on the soft Pirelli compound that was 0.023 seconds faster than Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton's best lap on a super-soft run this morning, with the Red Bull of Max Verstappen and the Haas of Kevin Magnussen rounding out the top four. Hamilton's teammate Valtteri Bottas suffered a spin during the afternoon, and could only muster seventh fastest on a race simulation programme.

 

Meanwhile, there were more problems for McLaren-Honda and rookie Lance Stroll's spin at Turn Nine ensured a premature end to the day's running for the Williams team.

Hamilton sets morning pace

Completing a very respectable 66 laps - a whole race distance in Spain - Hamilton made sure that he was the man to beat in the morning running, picking up from where he left off on Day One. Gradually building his pace on a cool track, the Brit's time of 1:20.983 showed an improvement of eight-tenths over yesterday.

In his first taste of testing as a full-time Formula 1 driver, Stoffel Vandoorne hit problems in the first ten minutes of the session, stopping in the pit entry. A flaw in the oil tank design looks to be one of the many problems in the back of the McLaren. Honda spent another day dismantling the engine - very disheartening for Eric Boullier, Fernando Alonso and Vandoorne. When the Belgian did have a chance to run, he found himself over four seconds off the ultimate pace, completing 40 laps.

Haas show improvement

After bettering their Day One time from 2016 by over five seconds yesterday, Magnussen ran well for the second successive day with his new employers. The Dane posted a time of 1.22.204 on the super-soft tyres - just 1.3 seconds away from Hamilton's time on the same compound.

Despite Bottas completing a stellar 102 laps in the afternoon, bringing Mercedes' Tuesday total to 168 laps, the Finn struggled with the balance of his car - understeer hampering his race simulation. To compound the matter, he ran a little wide and spun in the same place as Stroll, clipping the inside barrier and knocking the front wing.

 

His countryman had no such issues, Raikkonen looking assured and at one with his scarlet Ferrari, hinting at a potential threat from the Scuderia this season. However, their recent testing results haven't been carried into the full season. Will the SF70H change that?

Giovinazzi runs for Sauber

Their reserve driver, Antonio Giovinazzi, deputised for Sauber in the absence of regular driver Pascal Wehrlein, still recovering from his shunt at the Race of Champions. The Italian posted the ninth fastest time on soft tyres; Wehrlein is expected to return next week.

At Force India, Esteban Ocon racked up 86 laps, finishing the day in fifth, 1.5 seconds off Raikkonen's time, despite using the super-softs. Whether or not that indicates that the soft tyres hold supreme performance is yet to be found out.

Daniil Kvyat held sixth for Toro Rosso, whilst Jolyon Palmer recorded the eighth best time over the course of a modest 56 laps - although Renault's running was delayed due to parts being flown in late last night.