Barcelona Winter Testing – Day 2: Leclerc and Ferrari Impress
As yesterday, Ferrari dominated the day but this time with Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque was ahead of Lando Norris's McLaren and Kevin Magnussen's Haas. For Pierre Gasly, who went off track with his Red Bull, and Daniel Ricciardo, who lost a rear wing element from his Renault at full speed, the day was more complicated.
Winter testing is generally not very indicative of the true strengths of the competitors, but some lessons can still be drawn from it.
For example, the speed and reliability of the Ferrari SF90 cannot be questioned. As yesterday, it’s once again a red single-seater at the top of the timesheet after completing 154 laps, the highest number among its competitors today.
With a time of 1:18.247, compared to Sebastian Vettel’s 1:18.161 yesterday, Charles Leclerc thus confirms the good form of the Scuderia. Having set his best time in the early hours of the morning, the Monegasque was able to work calmly on the development of the SF90 without any reliability issues hindering his progress.
Within the other teams, the day was more chaotic. Alex Albon, in his first laps in Formula 1, did not make a positive impression, sending the new STR14 into the gravel just as the session began…
Not quite how Alex Albon will have imagined the start of his F1 career 🙈
Shortly after the green light on day two, this happens 👀#F1 #F1Testing pic.twitter.com/148XJtc7eC
— Formula 1 (@F1) 19 février 2019
The new Toro Rosso driver, however, did not sit idle for the rest of the day, completing an impressive total of 132 laps with the Honda engine behind him to eventually post the 4th best time, just over a second behind Leclerc’s Ferrari.
In any case, it’s better than Pierre Gasly, who was also making his debut with his new team, Red Bull, and who, at the end of the day, went off the track in an incident his mechanics could have done without. Indeed, the Norman driver lost control of his car entering the corner in the final sector, crashing violently into the TechPro barriers and thus destroying his rear wing.
💥… 🚩
Day 2 of testing ends early for @PierreGASLY#F1Testing #F1 pic.twitter.com/p9ANwTa1uJ
— Formula 1 (@F1) 19 février 2019
The rear wings were in the spotlight today as, in the morning, Daniel Ricciardo, who was making his official debut with Renault, experienced an unusual incident. Indeed, the upper part of his rear wing, activated in DRS mode, completely tore off from its support, sending the unfortunate Australian off the track. The former Red Bull driver managed to avoid the barriers and return to his pit to repair the damages.
Lose a chunk of your rear wing 💥
Still avoid the barriers 👀
Decent reactions, @danielricciardo 👏#F1 #F1Testing pic.twitter.com/TBzt5ehoDk
— Formula 1 (@F1) 19 février 2019
It should be noted that the three teams that put their single-seaters at the top today are exactly the same as yesterday, namely Ferrari, McLaren, and Haas. This hierarchy is of course skewed by the fuel loads and the strategy of certain teams, like Mercedes for example, who seemingly do not wish to reveal the extent of their performance yet, with Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton only ranking 6th and 10th respectively for the day.
The last incident of the day was attributed to Kevin Magnussen, who, hindered by a fastening issue with his safety harness, had to give up his place to the team’s test driver, Pietro Fittipaldi, for the final half-hour.
👀 A flying start for @Charles_Leclerc in the 2019 Ferrari 💪
👏 also to @LandoNorris #F1Testing #F1 pic.twitter.com/cKDGNgo9L7
— Formula 1 (@F1) 19 février 2019
