F1 Pre-Season Testing 2015: Times, News and Reports from Day 2 in Barcelona

A busy Day 2 in Catalunya saw Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo come out with the fastest time on Friday, edging Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen by 0.01 seconds while Lewis Hamilton made his return from illness.

Red Bull were running a race simulation for the Spanish Grand Prix and recorded a magnificent 143 laps in the RB11, with Ricciardo managing a fastest lap of one minute and 24.574 seconds. 

Both Ricciardo and Raikkonen clocked their best times on soft tyres, with the latter also experimenting with mediums during the closing phases of his Friday outing.

Here's the full time sheet for the second day of testing, courtesy of Sky Sports:

Position	Driver	Team	Time	Laps
1	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	1:24.574s	143
2	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1:24.584s	90
3	Felipe Massa	Williams	1:24.672s	88
4	Sergio Perez	Force India	1:24.702s	121
5	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:24.923s	89
6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:25.556s	66
7	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	1:25.961s	59
8	Jolyon Palmer	Lotus	1:26.280s	77
9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	1:27.344s	113
10	Carlos Sainz Jr	Toro Rosso	1:28.945s	100

Fernando Alonso was unable to break the 1:25.000 mark and was one of the last cars remaining on the track at the close of the session, with William Esler of Sky Sports quoting Mclaren director Eric Boullier:

That being said, Boullier said the team was merely happy to get their programming back on track and give some laps to Alonso, per Sky Sports:

"

It is good to finally put some laps on the board and get the programme back over the boundary – we have actually done more things today then we were expecting. So we are catching up on our programme.

I am happy with what we are doing, we are not looking for performance as we have a long list of system checks. Our aero plan has been done today in full and we have been doing some set up work on the car for the first to understand how the car is reacting and so far so good.

"

Raikkonen led Ferrari on another fast day of action as they go about their campaign to challenge Mercedes in 2015, with hopes looking high for the Finn this year.

Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene feels 2015 will produce "a new Raikkonen," quoted by Ben Anderson and Lawrence Barretto of Autosport as saying on Friday:

"

He had his problems [last year]. Problems because he was not feeling the car, especially the front. It was not a car that was adapted to the style of Kimi. He is demonstrating that these days, he is feeling the car better and he is smiling. This is very, very strange. It is the real scoop of the weekend.

Kimi was also on the ground to move the car and try to adjust something. I asked him: 'What are you doing?' He said 'I was a mechanic'. This is the atmosphere in the team, all the guys around him were surprised to look at him and to hear him talking and talking and talking.

I thought he was sick but he is not. It is just enthusiasm and I am sure this year Kimi can demonstrate his level. Kimi is very motivated and he is getting very, very well with [new team-mate] Seb [Vettel] and this is great.

"

The Force India team also had a fruitful Day 2 in Barcelona as Sergio Perez ran past the 100-lap mark with 121 of his own, registering a fastest time of one minute and 24.702 seconds, good enough for fourth in the rankings.

However, the day was interrupted when Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz spun out on the gravel, forcing a red flag stoppage, per GPUpdate.net:

Mercedes may not have finished among Friday's very quickest, but running just half a second off the pace with the medium compounds was no small feat for Hamilton, either.

The Briton can be pleased with his progress after missing out on a proper Thursday session with illness and Mercedes were swift to hail the afternoon exploits of their reigning world champion:

Hamilton may have been busy on his return, but it was workhorse Ricciardo who pitted last as the final chequered flag fell on Friday after a very encouraging session.

Altogether, Red Bull and Ferrari can be pleased with the foundations laid in Day 2, but Mercedes will be quietly confident of what's to come from Hamilton and Rosberg, registering 153 laps between them on Friday.