Verstappen sets pace on second day of test

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Max Verstappen set the fastest time of the second day of testing in Barcelona as Red Bull and Renault both completed more than 100 laps with the B-spec power unit.

Renault has been testing the upgraded engine across the two days at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya ahead of its potential implementation in Monaco. Verstappen followed up his Spanish Grand Prix victory with a busy day in the Red Bull, racking up 118 laps and setting the second quickest time of the test.

Verstappen’s benchmark lap of 1:23.267 was set on the soft compound tyre during the morning session and saw him finish just 0.047s adrift of Sebastian Vettel’s best lap from Tuesday.

Stoffel Vandoorne ended the second day 0.739s slower than Verstappen, with his best lap coming on the supersoft tyre. McLaren focused on tyre preparation during the morning session, which was also when Vandoorne set his time.

Mercedes made a late decision to change its driver line-up, with Pascal Wehrlein driving in place of Esteban Ocon on Wednesday. The Manor driver was third quickest - 0.878s off Vandoorne's time - having been drafted in to complete test items left over from Tuesday. Mercedes said it wanted an experienced driver in the car to complete the program, which means Lewis Hamilton will not test for the team this season.

Esteban Gutierrez was fourth quickest for Haas but used the ultrasoft tyre to set his time, finishing ahead of Ferrari's Antonio Fuoco. The Italian youngster improved to a 1:24.720 late in the day when he finally ran the soft tyre having been using mediums throughout the session.

Daniil Kvyat wanted a test day to get acclimatised to the Toro Rosso following his switch back to the team from Red Bull, and he duly managed to complete over 100 laps. However, Kvyat's day was interrupted by a stoppage late on Wednesday afternoon as he brought out the red flags at Turn 6.

Alfonso Celis Jr and Kevin Magnussen were the other two drivers to pass the 100-lap mark, with Magnussen's mileage another encouraging sign for Renault. The Dane noted improved drivability from the B-spec power unit in the morning session and says he would be happy to run it in Monaco if the team believes it is ready.

Felipe Massa ran the double Williams wing again for a spell on Wednesday afternoon as the team continued to analyse aero balance, while Jordan King was slowest for Manor. Development driver King did a solid job but had one off in the morning session at Turn 7, leaving gravel on the track which had to be cleared under the red flag.

AS IT HAPPNENED: Barcelona post-race test - Day 2

Scene at the Spanish Grand Prix

Spanish Grand Prix - Quotes of the weekend

DRIVER RATINGS: Spanish Grand Prix

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Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Laps
1	M. Verstappen	Red Bull	1:23.267	118
2	S. Vandoorne	McLaren	1:24.006	108
3	P. Wehrlein	Mercedes	1:24.145	133
4	E. Gutiérrez	Haas	1:24.592	105
5	A. Fuoco	Ferrari	1:24.720	118
6	D. Kvyat	Toro Rosso	1:24.737	116
7	A. Celis Jr	Force India	1:25.016	103
8	K. Magnussen	Renault Sport	1:25.133	122
9	F. Massa	Williams	1:27.167	94
10	J. King	Manor	1:27.615	91

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.