F1 Testing, Day One Second Test: Alfa Romeo on top, Mercedes bring upgrades
Written by News on 26/02/2019
Alfa Romeo set the pace on an intriguing first morning of the second pre-season test, with Mercedes debuting a heavily-revised W10 in Barcelona.
Antonio Giovinazzi topped the timesheets with a 1:18.589 as Alfa Romeo’s impressive start to F1 2019 continued, finishing the session just ahead of Pierre Gasly in the Red Bull and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
But though the top three were split by less than a tenth of a second, it was Mercedes who caught the eye on Tuesday with Lewis Hamilton driving a new-look car.
Follow F1 Testing live
The fastest laps of testing
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.
Hamilton’s best time was only good enough for eighth and well over a second off Giovinazzi’s pace, but the Englishman completed 83 valuable laps as Mercedes conducted several tests.
Ferrari, on the other hand, had a less-reliable first session of the week.
Leclerc only completed six laps in the opening three hours as the Scuderia monitored cooling system issues, finishing just four thousandths behind Gasly as Red Bull enjoyed an encouraging morning.
The Frenchman set the Honda-powered team’s fastest lap of pre-season, a 1:18.657, and looked set to top the morning before Giovinazzi’s late flurry.
Lance Stroll was fourth for Racing Point, ahead of Kevin Magnussen as Haas topped the mileage charts ahead of Mercedes and Renault, while George Russell ensured Williams finished an impressive sixth.
The Grove team, backrunners last year, missed over half of Test One to heap the pressure on themselves this week, but Russell started well with a 1:19.662.
There was only one red flag in the session – due to Lando Norris’ stoppage in the McLaren.
Norris pulled his MCL34 to the side of the Circuit de Catalunya with an as-yet unconfirmed issue, and wasn’t seen on track again in the final 90 minutes as he propped up the timesheets.
Compound 5 is the softest tyre, Compound 1 is the hardest.
Get the dedicated Sky Sports F1 channel – the exclusive home of all live F1 next season – for £18 a month in HD with no contract. Get Sky Sports F1.
(c) Sky News 2019: F1 Testing, Day One Second Test: Alfa Romeo on top, Mercedes bring upgrades
