Categories: FeatureFeatures

Second test driver line-ups

The second pre-season test gets underway at the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona tomorrow, the first of back-to-back tests at the circuit.

The first test saw McLaren struggle for mileage with the MP4-30, with Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso completing six laps each on the opening two days. Button will hope a similar pattern doesn't emerge at the second test as he drives on Thursday and Friday before handing over to Alonso for the weekend.

Mercedes again alternates drivers - this time with Lewis Hamilton driving first - as it looks to build on an impressive amount of mileage at the first test at Jerez.

While Mercedes was reliable, Ferrari was quick during the first four days and the SF15-T will be the focus of much attention to see if it continues the encouraging form it showed throughout the first test.

Force India will join the action for the first time in 2015, but it will be running last year's car to carry out tyre testing as the VJM08 is not yet ready. The Silverstone-based team has just confirmed that Mercedes reserve driver Pascal Wehrlein will drive for two of the four days, with the 20-year-old DTM race winner scheduled on Thursday and Saturday. Regular drivers Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg will take on testing duties on Friday and Sunday respectively.

There are two drivers confirmed to be running who weren't on track at Jerez. One is Williams' Susie Wolff, who will open the test in the FW37, while third driver Jolyon Palmer also gets his first drive at Lotus.

The full driver line-ups for each of the four days is as follows:

 Team Thursday  Friday  Saturday  Sunday
 Mercedes  L. Hamilton  N. Rosberg  L. Hamilton  N. Rosberg
 Red Bull  D. Ricciardo  D. Ricciardo  D. Kvyat  D. Kvyat
 Williams  S. Wolff  F.Massa  V. Bottas  V. Bottas/F. Massa
 Ferrari  K. Räikkönen  K. Räikkönen  S. Vettel  S. Vettel
 McLaren  J. Button  F. Alonso  J. Button  F. Alonso
 Force India  P. Wehrlein  S. Perez  P. Wehrlein  N. Hulkenberg
 Toro Rosso  M. Verstappen  C. Sainz  M. Verstappen  C. Sainz
 Lotus  P. Maldonado  J. Palmer  P. Maldonado  R. Grosjean
 Sauber  F. Nasr  M. Ericsson  M. Ericsson  F. Nasr

Feature - F1 testing: The tip of the iceberg

Click here for the full final day gallery from the Jerez test

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.

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