Barcelona pre-season test: Day 2 driver line-up

The first day of testing of Formula 1's new generation cars has come and gone, and teams are set to pick up in Barcelona where they left off on Wednesday.

There were several things to take away from F1's opening day of running at the Circuit de Catalunya.

The first observation was that, save for Alfa Romeo and Haas whose day was hampered by teething issues, F1's field of new-spec cars enjoyed an impressive level of reliability.

Furthermore, there were no on-track incidents to report, no red flags, with everyone keeping it together. But that fact is also a tell-tale sign that F1's new ground effect cars, while requiring a different driving style, are perhaps more forgiving than anticipated.

Finally, the performance difference between this year's designs and last season's machines is right in the ballpark 2/3-second estimate projected by most teams. And ongoing development will only reduce that gap as the season unfolds.

• Read also: Norris puts McLaren on top in first Barcelona test day

On Thursday, six drivers will take to the track onboard their new machines for the first time in pre-season testing: Red Bull's Sergio Perez, McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo, Alpine's Esteban Ocon, AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly and Alfa's Guanyou Zhou.

As yesterday, the action will kick off at 9:00 CET and conclude at 18:00 CET, with a one hour lunch break scheduled between 13:00 and 14:00 CET.

Driver line-ups for Barcelona pre-season test

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