Sebastian Vettel maintained his and Ferrari’s encouraging start to pre-season testing by going fastest on the second day of running at Jerez on Monday.
The four-time world champion, also quickest on the opening day, set a new overall benchmark of 1m 20.984s to finish almost one second clear of the chasing pack.
Proceedings were brought to a slightly early close as a rain storm hit the track, although Sauber’s Felipe Nasr and Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen - both entering their first season in Formula One racing - were among those who ventured out in the wet conditions.
It was Nasr who ultimately got closest to Vettel, putting Sauber second with a 1m 21.867s. That left him half a second clear of Williams’ Valtteri Bottas and the Mercedes of 2014 world champion Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton was able to clock up 91 laps, the most of any driver, as Mercedes once again demonstrated impressive reliability - although a water leak from a failed component brought his day to a slightly premature finish.
Verstappen was fifth fastest, 1.5s down on Hamilton, while Lotus’s Pastor Maldonado and McLaren’s Jenson Button rounded out the top seven.
Lotus had initially played down their chances of running before the third day of the test as they finalised the build programme of their E23 Hybrid. They were able to join the fray early in the morning however, with Maldonado eventually racking up 41 laps.
McLaren’s progress was more limited, as a recurring problem confined Button to the garage for much of the day. The team did emerge in the final minutes, but only for a sedate out-lap. Button therefore ended the day with six laps - matching what 2015 team mate Fernando Alonso managed on day one - and an unrepresentative best time of 1m 54.655s, more than 30s down on Vettel.
Daniil Kvyat was the eighth and final runner for Red Bull, although the Russian did not set a time on his first day in the RB11 after damaging the front wing early on. With no replacement, Kvyat had the unusual task of completing several installation runs with no front wing.
The only team absent from the timesheet were Force India, who have opted to skip the first test completely whilst they develop their new car.
Testing continues at Jerez on Tuesday.
Unofficial Monday testing times from Jerez
1. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1m 20.984s, 88 laps
2. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1m 21.867s, 89 laps
3. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1m 22.319s, 61 laps
4. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1m 22.490s, 91 laps
5. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1m 24.167s, 73 laps
6. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus, 1m 25.802s, 41 laps
7. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1m 54.655s, 6 laps
8. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull, No time, 18 laps
(source: f1.com)
