Jerez Testing – Day 2: First Troubles for Mercedes and Lotus, McLaren F1 Struggling

After a calm weather day yesterday, this Monday was disrupted by rain that fell for most of the afternoon in Jerez.

Indeed, from 2:20 PM onwards, a light drizzle fell on the Spanish circuit, freezing the current hierarchy and allowing Sebastian Vettel to once again finish at the top of the timesheets driving his Ferrari SF15-T, without experiencing major issues throughout the 88 laps of his day.

The German once again precedes a Sauber C34, but this time driven by Felipe Nasr, who was making his big debut in F1, completing 87 laps. Valtteri Bottas is in third position.

Mercedes encountered a first technical issue with a water leak that affected the W06 around 2:00 PM, which nevertheless managed to complete 91 laps of the Jerez circuit, the highest total of the day. Lewis Hamilton is fourth on the timesheet. The reigning world champion is followed by Max Verstappen, who was also making his debut in the cockpit of the Toro Rosso STR10, with 73 laps on the counter.

Although rumors suggested it wouldn’t run today, the Lotus E23 hit the track in the hands of Pastor Maldonado. The Venezuelan was able to complete 41 laps but encountered a technical issue in the afternoon, causing the session’s only red flag. McLaren continues to face teething problems with the Honda hybrid engine: Jenson Button, like Fernando Alonso yesterday, completed the Jerez circuit six times.

Daniil Kvyat did not set a time during the day despite his 18 laps. The young Russian damaged his front wing this morning, but Red Bull did not have a replacement part on site, so he had to drive without it for the rest of the day.

Jerez Test Rankings 2015 – Day 2: