Maldonado fastest as McLaren struggles continue
BARCELONA: Venezuelan Pastro Maldonado was fastest for the second time in three days of pre-season testing in Barcelona on another miserable day for the McLaren-Honda partnership.
Lotus’ Maldonado made the most of his time on the supersoft tyres to record the quickest lap of the test at the Circuit de Catalunya in 1min 24.348sec.
“I don’t now how quick the car is against the others, but it is easy to see it is quicker than last year,” said Maldonado who finished in the points just once in 19 races last season.
“We were the slowest last year on the straights but for sure we will have a good top speed through the season.
“The difference is quite huge from last year. It feels completely different.”
TeenagesensationMaxVerstappen was second fastest in the Toro Rosso, whilst world champion Lewis Hamilton was third quickest as he pounded out another 101 laps for Mercedes despite still suffering the after-effects of a fever that restricted his running on day one.
“I’m definitely not 100 percent and I’m looking forward to going home tonight and sleeping for the next couple of days,” said Hamilton, who will hand over the reins to teammate Nico Rosberg on Sunday.
“It was a hard day out there physically, but I’ll make sure I’m better for next week and come back stronger.”
Maldonado, Verstappen, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Daniil Kyvat in the Red Bull also surpassed a century of laps on the day.
However, McLaren were left floundering once more as they suffered from the recurrence of a faulty seal that dogged them on day one in Barcelona. - AFP