Vettel fastest in Ferrari on 2nd day of F1 testing
By Joseph Wilson MONTMELO, SPAIN » Sebastian Vettel was faster than rival Valtteri Bottas on the second session of Formula One testing on Tuesday, as bad weather continued to complicate preparations for the upcoming season.
Vettel set the pace with a lap of 1 minute, 19.673 seconds in the German’s first drive of the new Ferrari.
Bottas was next at 0.303 seconds slower in his Mercedes.
They were followed by McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne, who just edged Red Bull’s Max Verstappen for the third fastest time.
Cold and wet conditions, which reduce the tire’s grip on the tarmac, limited driving for a second straight day with only six more test days left before the season starts in Melbourne.
A track temperature of 4 degrees (39 F) when the session started kept most drivers in the garages until things warmed up by noon.
To make up some of the lost time, officials granted the teams’ request to cancel the one-hour lunch break.
But light snow fell on the track as temperatures fell again with an hour remaining for the session.
More snow is forecast for Wednesday.
Even with temperatures at their highest, both Vettel and Sauber rookie Charles Leclerc spun off the track and into the gravel.
Kevin Magnussen had the biggest scare of the day. The Haas driver was about to crash when he managed to regain control and skirt just alongside the barrier until returning to the track.
Vandoorne’s third-best time, however, came on a faster set of tires than Verstappen. Much more worrying was that his session was cut short by a problem with the car’s exhaust that the team said it was investigating.
McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso had a wheel pop off on Monday, limiting his driving time as well.
The hiccups don’t bode well for a team trying to rebound after three disappointing years with Honda by changing to Renault engines.
Red Bull’s fortunes turned after Daniel Ricciardo set the fastest time and clocked the most laps on Monday.
Verstappen had trouble getting his car out of the garage early because of a problem identified by the team as a “minor fuel leak.”
Defending champion Lewis Hamilton was scheduled to relieve Bottas at midday. But Mercedes announced after the lunch break was cancelled that Bottas would continue behind the wheel “to maximize our mileage after the poor track conditions limited running this morning.”