Test Number Two – Same Ol’ Story…
Even scarier was that Mercedes put on soft Pirelli rubber for the first time and Nico Rosberg lapped a quarter second faster than Valtteri Bottas in a Williams using ultrasoft tyres! Lewis Hamilton followed this up in the afternoon by running a full race simulation while many teams struggled with technical issues.
Red Bull had brake duct issues that caused a fire on Daniil Kvyat’s RB12, Kimi Raikonnen was sidelined for most of the morning with gearbox problems on his Ferrari while Haas struggled mightily with fuel system issues that kept Esteban Gutiérrez in the pits almost all day.
Other teams fared better. The new Sauber C35 debuted and Felipe Nasr was able to put in a good days work, commenting afterwards that the car is a good step forward. Toro Rosso continued to rack up the mileage as Max Verstappen put in 141 laps in the newly liveried STR11, while both Fernando Alonso in the McLaren-Honda and Kevin Magnussen in the Renault both had solid days as they try to play catch up from the first test.
– MCZF1
