Barcelona Test Day 2: Verstappen back on top

Fresh from his sensational win at the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday, Max Verstappen ended his day of testing at Circuit de Catalunya back at the top of the timing sheets for Red Bull.

The teenager, who is now the youngest ever grand prix winner, competed 118 laps during the course of the day. His best time of 1:23.267 was three quarters of a second up on the next best which was Stoffel Vandoorne, who stood in for injured Fernando Alonso at the Bahrain Grand Prix and was back in the cockpit for McLaren in Barcelona.

Nevertheless, Sebastian Vettel’s 1:23.220 effort set during the first day, on Tuesday, remained the fastest time of the two days of testing.

Pascal Wehrlein was drafted in to test for Mercedes, in place of Esteban Ocon, and ended the day third fastest for the world champions.

Wednesday’s fastest times were all set in the morning, with the teams spending the afternoon concentrating on longer runs and race simulations. As a result, the bulk of running took place on the soft and medium compounds, with Esteban Gutierrez the only man to run on the ultrasoft in preparation for Monaco.

The end of the test did not run without incident - there were two stoppages for red flags courtesy of Daniil Kvyat and Manor development driver Jordan King. The Toro Rosso was stopped on track due to an unspecified car problem, while King came off at Turn 7 resulting in excessive gravel on the track.

Overall it was a solid day’s running for the ten teams present, with all completing a minimum of 90 laps.

Young drivers in action on the day included: Antonio Fuoco (Ferrari) who finished fifth fastest, Alfonso Celis (Force India) seventh fastest and Jordan King (Manor) who was slowest on the day.

Cash strapped Sauber were not present for the test.

Max Verstappen: It was good to get back in the car today. The car is good to drive, very enjoyable and we achieved very good mileage. We didn’t have any problems and could run the whole day. For me personally it was good to have the opportunity to get even more comfortable with the car. I was able to try some new things and find ways to improve my performance. I learned a lot about the RB12 today, which is very, very positive."

Pascal Wehrlein: "That was a good day. A bit unexpected! The team called me yesterday evening as they couldn't finish their test programme and needed an experienced driver to finish it off, so I came back to the track to do a seat fitting that night! We did 133 laps today - two race distances - and finished the test programme, which was important for the team. We tried a few different setups during the morning - mainly looking at aerodynamic with the aero rig. Then we did some long runs in the afternoon, so a good programme. I must say I really enjoyed the car - it felt amazing! I'm now really looking forward to my first Monaco Grand Prix next week."

Alfonso Celis:“I am very pleased with the work I was able to do during these two days. It was quite a varied programme and I enjoyed it – especially feeling the car over the long runs. I am feeling much more comfortable in the car and I was able to help the team by bringing home a lot of data. I am getting much closer to the pace I want to show and I feel I can push the car harder with every run. ”

Antonio Fuoco: “We did a good job today, a lot of laps, a lot of kilometres and it was a very positive day. The most complicated thing about an F1 car compared to the GP3 car I’m racing in the championship is managing the various procedures. And the extra downforce makes it more demanding, so some training is useful. Today, we worked on set-up, covering a bit of what Sebastian had done as a comparison. We tried some new components, but nothing special. Compared to last year’s test I did in the 2015 car, it’s hard to draw comparisons. When I was driving in Austria the conditions were completely different. However, I’d say this year’s car is an improvement, it works very well. We ran a lot today and in general I did a good job with the team and I’d like to really thank the Scuderia and the Ferrari Driver Academy for this opportunity.”

Felipe Massa: "It was an interesting test. We worked on so many things for developing and improving the car on the aero side, which was our biggest aim for these two days. We tried a lot of different things for the future so it has been an important two days and key to get a lot of mileage."

Kevin Magnussen: "That was a full day for me and a productive one. I think the only issue I experienced all day was wanting to take my helmet off for a little break. The car feels good and it was great to conduct such a wide variety of assessments as it shows we’re clearly making progress. It wasn’t just me busy in the car, all the crew were flat out changing bits or adding or removing rakes so a big thanks to everyone for their hard work after the race here. It’s definitely been a positive test. The power unit feels stronger and has better driveability and there are some other good improvements too."

Daniil Kvyat: "I think today was a very productive and good day. We completed a big amount of laps, all of which are useful for both myself and the team. Tonight we will analyse all the data we’ve gathered and we will already be able to use this valuable information in the next events, starting with Monaco. Barcelona is a very good track to test at and a lot of the work we got done today will hopefully work on the car as we expect. All in all, it was quite an important day for myself today, as being able to get time in the STR11 was essential, and I now feel much more confident and ready for Monaco."

Esteban Gutiérrez: "It was a very interesting day. We completed almost everything we needed to achieve, so we can be happy with that. It was all very positive. We were able to run a lot of programs, so I’m looking forward to Monaco."

Jordan King: "Despite having my first taste of an F1 car in Abu Dhabi last year, driving this year’s MRT05 for the first time today was just as exhilarating. Possibly more so, actually, given that it’s such a big step on in terms of power and braking stability in particular. As well as being an opportunity for me to get to grips with the car, today was still very much a working test for the team and I had a big programme of items to work through. We had hoped to make enough progress for me to get some time on the Supersoft but we had an issue at the end which brought our day to a close sooner than we’d hoped. That said, it’s not all about the timesheets and it’s just as valuable for the team to see what I can bring in terms of application and feedback. All in all, I’m pretty pleased."