Sergio Perez Reigns Supreme On Day Two At Barcelona Test

Sergio Perez has ended the second day of the Barcelona test fastest for McLaren, as the Mexican driver continues to find his feet at the Woking-based outfit. The youngster was followed home by reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel, with the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton a distant 3rd.

Day two of the Barcelona test dawned in cold yet sunny weather conditions for the eleven Formula 1 teams up and down the paddock, as a slightly revised driver line-up prepared to take to the Circuit de Catalunya. Lewis Hamilton was scheduled to make his first appearance of the week at Mercedes, with Nico Hulkenberg and Valtteri Bottas doing likewise at their respective outfits. Once the track turned green, Charles Pic and Max Chilton became the first drivers to take to the circuit, with many others following suit to carry out their installation laps.

The first timed lap of the day was set by the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, who produced a 01:28.723 early on. The 2008 World Champion continued to improve at the top, eventually working his way down to a 01:27.563. However, his McLaren successor Sergio Perez soon rose to the top setting a 01:26.294. Just like the Briton before him, Perez was able to improve upon his time at the top with a 01:25.481. As the morning session wore on, Lewis Hamilton began trading fastest times at the top with the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel.

Eventually the reigning World Champion asserted his authority by setting a 01:22.197, with Sergio Perez slotting into 2nd position for McLaren +0.546 seconds off the German’s pace. Sebastian Vettel’s time at the top remained unchallenged for the remainder of the morning period, with the German eventually entering the lunch hour fastest. Once the track action had been resumed after the lunch interval, Nico Hulkenberg became the first driver to take to the Circuit de Catalunya for Sauber.

Although the majority of the field had completed considerable mileage throughout the morning period, Kimi Raikkonen had endured a quiet second day for Lotus. The reasons behind this became apparent in the afternoon when the Enstone-based outfit confirmed that the Finn’s E21 had been struck with a gearbox issue, and that the team were currently changing the gearbox. This therefore accounted for the 2007 World Champion’s inactivity throughout the morning period.

Sergio Perez rose to the top for McLaren once again, with the Mexican ace setting a 01:21.848. After several hours of idleness for Kimi Raikkonen, the Finn finally returned to the track several hours into the afternoon period, with the Iceman shooting straight to 3rd fastest with a 01:22.697. Amazingly the entire morning period passed by without a red flag delay, however reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel brought proceedings to a momentary halt during the afternoon after the German came to a halt at the end of the pit-lane.

The session was quickly resumed as the German’s car was returned to Red Bull’s garage, with six drivers immediately taking to the track including Sergio Perez and Kimi Raikkonen. Despite many drivers taking to the track with only several minutes remaining in the day, the second day was brought to a premature end when the Marussia of Max Chilton stopped between Turns 12 and 13. This therefore saw Sergio Perez end the day fastest for McLaren, ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton.

Tomorrow will once again see several driver changes up and down the paddock, including Nico Rosberg’s return behind the wheel of the Mercedes W04, Mark Webber replacing Sebastian Vettel, Jenson Button at McLaren and the return of Adrian Sutil at Force India.

Today's times

Pos  Driver             Team          Time       Gap     Laps  Tyre
 1.  Sergio Perez       McLaren       1m21.848s           97   Soft
 2.  Sebastian Vettel   Red Bull      1m22.197s  +0.349   84   Soft
 3.  Kimi Raikkonen     Lotus         1m22.697s  +0.849   43   Medium
 4.  Lewis Hamilton     Mercedes      1m22.726s  +0.878   121  Hard
 5.  Fernando Alonso    Ferrari       1m23.247s  +1.399   76   Medium
 6.  Valtteri Bottas    Williams      1m23.561s  +1.713   98   Soft
 7.  Daniel Ricciardo   Toro Rosso    1m23.718s  +1.870   70   Medium
 8.  Paul di Resta      Force India   1m23.971s  +2.123   62   Medium
 9.  Nico Hulkenberg    Sauber        1m24.205s  +2.357   88   Medium
10.  Max Chilton        Marussia      1m25.115s  +3.267   67   Soft
11.  Charles Pic        Caterham      1m26.243s  +4.395   102  Medium

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