Charles Leclerc finished the second day of pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya as fastest driver, as Ferrari continued their strong start to the year. McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo had led the way at the lunchtime intermission, picking up where teammate Lando Norris left off on Wednesday afternoon. But Leclerc managed to take the top spot away from Ricciardo with just over an hour to go, with the Monegasque setting a 1:19.804 on the Medium (C3) tyres. Shortly after that, Leclerc went quicker still – popping in a 1:19.689. This time went unbeaten until the final chequered flag of the day, despite sterling efforts from Pierre Gasly and Ricciardo. Gasly, bolting on the Soft (C4) compound for a quick run towards the end of the day, climbed up into second place and finished just over two-tenths away from Leclerc's pace. Ricciardo had to settle for third, a further three-tenths back, having set his best time on the Medium (C3) compound – despite a run on the C4 tyre in the final 30 minutes of the day. Ferrari also finished strongly on the mileage count. Between Carlos Sainz in the morning and Leclerc in the afternoon, the team wrapped up the day with 150 laps cumulatively. AlphaTauri finished with the second-highest lap count as Gasly put in 146 tours of the track, with Aston Martin in third as Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll put in 127 laps between them. McLaren finished with a healthy gathering of laps as well – Ricciardo racking up 126 laps by himself over the course of Thursday's track time.
A compromised day for Red Bull as Mercedes keep their heads down
After Max Verstappen completed 147 laps without issue on Wednesday, it was a less straightforward day for Red Bull on Thursday. Sergio Perez brought out the first red flag of the day, and of the entire test, as he broke down during the morning session. Coming to a halt in the third sector of the lap, Red Bull confirmed a gearbox failure as his RB18 was recovered to the pits. Perez would miss the first two hours of the afternoon session, although managed to rejoin the action in the second half. He finished in seventh place, having completed 77 laps of the circuit – the lowest team lap count of the day. Another team to have trouble were Haas, as Nikita Mazepin stopped on track with a damaged fuel pump, having completed just nine laps in the afternoon. After a steady morning with Mick Schumacher at the wheel to complete 65 laps, Mazepin was forced onto the sidelines but was able to rejoin with just over 90 minutes remaining. He completed 42 laps in total. Elsewhere, it was a low-key day for Mercedes. The reigning Constructors' World Champions had Lewis Hamilton at the wheel of the W13 in the morning, and he finished the day with just 40 laps on the board to prop up the rear of the field. His best time of 1:22.562 was almost three seconds off the pace. George Russell, taking over for the afternoon, had a stronger showing as he placed fourth at the chequered flag. Mercedes accumulated 104 laps in total between their two drivers. The final day of testing in Barcelona gets underway on Friday at 09:00 local time.
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