F1 Testing, Day One Second Test: McLaren fastest, Mercedes delayed
Norris sets McLaren's best lap of winter, but MCL34 stops twice; Mercedes break down in afternoon, while Ferrari also hit delays
Monday 1 April 2019 09:32, UK
Lando Norris set the pace for McLaren despite two track stoppages, while Mercedes and Ferrari also ran into delays, on an incident-filled opening day of F1's second pre-season test.
Norris pipped Red Bull's Pierre Gasly to the day's quickest lap of 1:17.709 with a late run on Pirelli's second-fastest tyres, the C4 compound, before the car stopped on track. The MCL34 had earlier broken down with a hydraulics fault.
Mercedes completed more laps than any team at Test One but lost most of the afternoon session due to an oil pressure problem.
The fastest laps of testing
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The W10 stopped on track on Valtteri Bottas' first lap out of the pits and, after an engine change, only returned three hours' later when the Finn completed six more laps.
But Lewis Hamilton had already completed a trouble-free 83 laps during the morning as the world champions caught the eye with a package of upgrade parts at the front of the W10. The parts are expected to be used at next month's Australian GP.
"It was an improvement from last week which is a good step," said Hamilton.
Rivals Ferrari also hit a stumbling block during the morning when a cooling systems issue kept them in the garage for two hours during Charles Leclerc's stint in the car.
Midfield continue to grab headlines, Mercedes upgrade
In keeping with the first test, it was one of 2019's expected midfield teams who grabbed the timesheet headlines on Day One, with Norris setting McLaren's best time of the two tests late in the afternoon.
The Briton's 1:17.7 time on 2019's quickest tyres was similar to Toro Rosso and Alfa Romeo's from last week. Fuel loads and car settings are unknown.
McLaren's progress during the afternoon was monitored from trackside by Fernando Alonso, who returned to the paddock for the first time since leaving the sport last November. He remains linked to the Woking team through their Indy 500 programme.
Red Bull had led the timesheet for large periods during the morning and afternoon, but Gasly finished 0.006s behind Norris in second place. However, he completed more laps than any other driver and his lap time - Red Bull's quickest of the winter - was on a compound of tyres two steps harder than the McLaren.
Gasly's lap was also the fastest on the Compound 3 tyre so far.
"It was a really productive week last week and then to start the second week with that number of laps is clearly positive," said Gasly. "But at the end of the day we just need to work.
"Melbourne is coming pretty fast, we still have three more days of testing and hopefully we can learn a bit more about our package and extract more performance."
Racing Point, who are set to introduce a big upgrade for their car in time for the Australian GP, were third on the timesheet with Lance Stroll.
Ferrari pair Sebastian Vettel and Leclerc, who shared driving duties, were fourth and seventh respectively - but the German's time of 1:17.9 was their best of the winter.
When their W10 was on track, Mercedes focused once more on heavier-fuel long runs.
The world champions, who appeared to be lagging behind early frontrunners Ferrari after Test One, brought a raft of aerodynamic upgrades for the final four days of testing, including a new nose, front wing and floor.
Meanwhile, Williams started to make up ground after their disrupted opening week by recording their first lap-count century of 2019.
George Russell completed what appeared to be a trouble-free 119 laps in the FW42 as the team broke into the 1:19s for the first time.
Test Two, Day One at Barcelona in quotes
Pierre Gasly, Red Bull
"I believe we still have some [engine performance] left... I think we're just trying to push slightly more every day."
Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes
"I'm glad I still got to do a few laps, the team did a really good job to get the car out again; it was important to get a bit of a feel for the new aero package. My running was obviously very limited, but it seems like we've made improvements."
Nico Hulkenberg, Renault
"I can say that we have made good progress [with the engine]. I feel there is more power."
Christian Horner, Red Bull
"Our intention is to try and close the gap on all types of circuits to our competitors. Honda have delivered exactly what was advertised."
Lando Norris, McLaren
"We've improved the car slightly since last week, especially on the longer runs, so we're going in the right direction, which is positive. It's important that we keep doing that."
George Russell, Williams
"After the last couple of weeks it's a huge relief to get a day like today. It feels like a proper day one for us really."
Compound 1 is the hardest tyre, Compound 5 is the softest
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