No sign of Williams car on day two in Barcelona

WILLIAMS mechanics slept through the day on an industrial estate close to the Circuit de Catalunya awaiting the arrival of their car. The shut-eye in their hotel was so they could be wide awake to prepare the machine for action when it finally arrived — if it did — before dusk this morning. Some struggled to break their regular sleep pattern and were reportedly wide awake while pre-season testing continued for a second day without the British team who won 16 world titles in the Eighties and Nineties. Back at the Williams factory, in Oxfordshire, a mammoth effort was taking place to get the FW42 ready to be placed in pantechnicons for the flight to Barcelona. A team spokesman said: ‘Obviously there will still be a fair amount to do but we will be working as fast as we can. ‘We are unlikely to run before lunch, though.’ The delays have left the future of technical director Paddy Lowe in doubt. Unreliability or — as those who have seen the figures predict — a slow car would heap further pressure on him. Ferrari, meanwhile, enjoyed another fabulous day’s testing, with newcomer Charles Leclerc putting himself at the top of the timing boards, where his teammate Sebastian Vettel had spent all of Monday. British rookie Lando Norris got closest to the Ferrari, though his late flying lap in the McLaren was down to fast tyres and light fuel. ‘We did 104 laps and there were no big surprises,’ said Norris. ‘It’s good to know we can get through a full day without any major problems.’