<
        >

          As it happened: F1 preseason testing, day two

          • ESPN
          Feb 20, 2020, 06:46 AM

          Formula One's preseason continues on Thursday with the second day of testing at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya.

          ESSENTIAL READING

          TESTING SO FAR

          LIVE BLOG

          (All Central European Time)

          1800: That's the end of day two.

          Here's the final classification:

          1. Kimi Raikkonen - Alfa Romeo - 1:17.091 - 134 laps
          2. Sergio Perez - Racing Point - +0.256s - 145 laps
          3. Daniel Ricciardo - Renault - +0.650s - 41 laps
          4. Alex Albon - Red Bull - +0.821s - 132 laps
          5. Pierre Gasly - Alpha Tauri - +1.030s - 146 laps
          6. Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari - +1.063s - 72 lap
          7. George Russell - Williams - +1.175s - 116 laps
          8. Charles Leclerc - Ferrari - +1.244 - 49 laps
          9. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes - +1.296s - 106 laps
          10. Lando Norris - McLaren - +1.383s - 136 laps
          11. Romain Grosjean - Haas - +1.405s - 158 laps
          12. Esteban Ocon - Renault - +1.466s - 52 laps
          13. Valtteri Bottas - Mercedes - +2.216s - 77 laps

          17:30: Kimi Raikkonen has put Alfa Romeo top of the order in the final hour. The new benchmark is 1:17.091. Most of the other times below are unchanged.

          Mercedes has confirmed an electrical issue has ended their day early, meaning Bottas finies the day having completed his race number -- 77 -- on the lap chart. That brings Mercedes' combined tally for the day to 183.

          17:00: Here's how the order looks ahead of the final hour of the second day.

          1. Sergio Perez - Racing Point - 1:17.347 - 121 laps
          2. Kimi Raikkonen - Alfa Romeo +0.188s - 120 laps
          3. Daniel Ricciardo - Renault - +0.402s - 41 laps
          4. Alex Albon - Red Bull - 0.636s - 111 laps
          5. Pierre Gasly - Alpha Tauri - 0.774s - 133 laps
          6. George Russell - Williams - 0.919s - 106 laps
          7. Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari - 0.926s - 54 laps
          8. Charles Leclerc - Ferrari - 0.988s - 49 laps
          9. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes - 1.040s - 106 laps
          10. Lando Norris - McLaren - 1.190s - 126 laps
          11. Romain Grosjean - Haas - 1.149s - 145 laps
          12. Esteban Ocon - Renault - 1.210s - 34 laps
          13. Valtteri Bottas - Mercedes - 1.960s - 77 laps

          16:30: Lots of centurions on the lap counter. Perez (Racing Point), Gasly (Alpha Tauri), Hamilton (Merc), Grosjean (Haas), Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) and Norris (McLaren) have all gone past 100 laps at some point today. Bottas' 77 laps (and counting) means the world champions are looking like a good bet to complete 200 across the day.

          Renault has had a curiously slow day. Combined, Ricciardo and Ocon have just 72 laps. That's the lowest of any team so far.

          15:45: Here's some more information on the innovative steering system Mercedes is running here today, with an explanation from the team's technical chief James Allison.

          14:20: Sebastian Vettel, who missed his scheduled day in the car yesterday with illness, has taken over from Charles Leclerc at Ferrari. He's just gone out for his first lap in the 2020 car during this test. He will complete the day and then drive for all of Friday.

          14:00: We are back underway in Barcelona.

          1300: That's lunch. Here's the leaderboard so far.

          1. Sergio Perez - Racing Point - 1:17.347 - 48 laps
          2. Daniel Ricciardo - Renault - +0.402s - 41 laps
          3. Alexander Albon - Red Bull - +0.808s - 59 laps
          4. Pierre Gasly - Alpha Tauri - +0.818s - 76 laps
          5. George Russell - Williams - +0.919s - 71 laps
          6. Charles Leclerc - Ferrari - +0.988 - 49 laps
          7. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes - +1.040 - 106 laps
          8. Romain Grosjean - Haas - +1.149s - 87 laps
          9. Kimi Raikkonen - Alfa Romeo - +1.161s - 65 laps
          10. Lando Norris - McLaren - +1.190s - 48 laps

          12:40: Its so impressive seeing Mercedes accumulate mileage in these tests. Hamilton has already passed a century of laps, the next nearest is Romain Grosjean on 78 laps for Haas.

          Since it became the dominant F1 outfit Mercedes has always done this but I thought by now other teams would be in a similar position to go out and just hit the ground running from the outset.

          11:40: The fact testing is being filmed and broadcast properly is great for fans but it has also enabled people to spot something rather interesting Mercedes is doing.

          An on board with Hamilton earlier showed the reigning world champion pulling his steering wheel backwards slightly when on the straight, thus changing the camber of his front tyres ever so slightly. The steering wheel was then fixed back to its normal position before the braking point.

          Mercedes technical chief James Allison speaks to the media later today, so it might be one that gets a fair amount of attention today.

          Watch the tyres very carefully here, and how they ever so slightly move inwards towards the car when the steering wheel is pulled back.

          The film director of these tests is doing a good job of keeping the media centre's attention. Two laps just passed riding with Lewis and on both occasions the world champion pulled the steering wheel backwards, as you can see in the snippet of video above. It's called "toe-in", as it enables Hamilton to turn the steering arm, which controls the camber of the wheels.

          Nate Saunders, General Editor, F14y ago

          11:00: Here are the times as we enter the final two hours of the morning session.

          1. Sergio Perez - Racing Point - 1:17.347 - 23 laps
          2. Daniel Ricciardo - Renault - +0.402s - 17 laps
          3. Pierre Gasly - Alpha Tauri - +0.812s - 37 laps
          4. Charles Leclerc - Ferrari - +0.988 - 35 laps
          5. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes - +1.040 - 38 laps
          6. Alexander Albon - Red Bull - +1.076s - 34 laps
          7. George Russell - Williams - +1.174s - 28 laps
          8. Kimi Raikkonen - Alfa Romeo - +1.256s - 28 laps
          9. Romain Grosjean - Haas - +2.233s - 39 laps
          10. Lando Norris - McLaren - +2.234s - 24 laps

          10:40: Here are two of the cars causing the most intrigue this week. The Renault, which rolled out with a slim-line nose -- arguably the most radical change to any car on the 2020 grid.

          And then there's the controversial 'pink Mercedes', the 2020 Racing Point. Or is it last year's Mercedes with a different lick of paint?

          1015: Here are the times after 75 minutes.

          0930: Day one was a productive one for all the teams so you would expect the same today. All 10 teams seem pretty well prepped for this preseason given the stability in the regs between 2019 and 2020.

          0900: Here's a look at the teams' planned running order for the day. The teams with two drivers listed usually use the hour-long lunch break to swap its drivers.