Verstappen tops second morning of Barcelona test

Max Verstappen followed his Spanish Grand Prix with the fastest time on the second morning of in-season testing in Barcelona.

Taking over from team-mate Daniel Ricciardo on the final day, Verstappen completed 65 laps as he acclimatised further to the RB12 having made his debut for Red Bull at the weekend. Verstappen’s best lap of 1:23.267 came on the soft tyre and was 0.2s shy of his qualifying time from Q3 on Saturday.

As on Tuesday, McLaren was near the top of the timing screens throughout the morning session, with Stoffel Vandoorne finishing second to Verstappen. Vandoorne had topped the times early on and used the supersoft tyre to set his best effort but was still over 0.7s adrift of the Red Bull.

Daniil Kvyat was the busiest driver during the morning session as he managed 68 laps in the Toro Rosso and set the third fastest time. Kvyat was nearly 1.5s slower than Verstappen but was eager for mileage having said it would take a test day for him to fell fully comfortable back in the car following his switch from Red Bull.

Kevin Magnussen was fourth for Renault as he continued testing the new B-spec power unit. Renault was also testing a number of new components on the second day and passed the 50-lap mark before the lunch break.

There was a late change at Mercedes as Pascal Wehrlein was drafted in to replace Esteban Ocon on Wednesday morning. Ocon had been scheduled to drive but Mercedes still had some unfinished work from Tuesday and wanted a more experienced driver behind the wheel. With Lewis Hamilton having other commitments, Wehrlein was called up as he was still in Barcelona ahead of a Manor filming day on Thursday.

However, the change means Hamilton will be unable to take part in the test following the British Grand Prix as Mercedes has used two drivers who have started more than two grands prix.

Esteban Gutierrez and Antonio Fuoco were separated by just 0.001s at the lunch break, with Fuoco - driving for Ferrari - receiving some noisy support from his fan club in the main grandstand opposite the garage.

Jordan King enjoyed a productive morning driving for Manor for the first time, but caused the first red flag of the test when he ran wide at Turn 7 with 20 minutes remaining before lunch. King was able to rejoin and return to the pits, but the gravel he deposited on the circuit needed clearing before running could resume.

LIVE: Barcelona post-race test - Day 2

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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.