Formula 1 Testing: Times from Day Two at Jerez

The second day of the first official F1 test in Jerez took place on Wednesday.  Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi handed over the car to Sergio Perez, Force India allowed Jules Bianchi a run out and Nico Rosberg took no part.

With those exceptions, we saw the same cars and drivers as we did on day one.

As was expected, quicker times were set today as more teams got round to performing some faster runs.  Michael Schumacher set a time of 1:18.561, but this was in the 2011 Mercedes fitted with 2012 tyres.

The fastest of the new cars was the Red Bull (surprise surprise) of Mark Webber with a lap of 1:19.184—half a second quicker than Kimi Raikkonen's effort which set the benchmark on day one.  Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo was four tenths behind his fellow Australian in third.

*01	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	1:18.561	132 Laps
02	Mark Webber	Red Bull	1:19.184	97 Laps
03	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	1:19.587	100 Laps
04	Jules Bianchi	Force India	1:20.221	46 Laps
05	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus	1:20.239	117 Laps
06	Paul di Resta	Force India	1:20.272	69 Laps
07	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:20.454	95 Laps
08	Jenson Button	McLaren	1:20.688	85 Laps
09	Sergio Perez	Sauber	1:20.711	68 Laps
10	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	1:21.197	97 Laps
11	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	1:21.518	139 Laps
*12	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	1:22.128	64 Laps

* indicates 2011 car with 2012 tyres.

Though I'm sure a lot of us—me included—check testing times in the hope of discovering the true pace of some of the runners, we certainly haven't had that so far.  McLaren haven't even tried to show their hand, nor have Ferrari. 

And though Red Bull have done a quicker time than their rivals, we can't consider even that as representative of their real speed.

They, like everyone else, are focused on ensuring their cars actually work—not on how fast they can be pushed to go.

But Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso will be on track tomorrow. 

Though unlikely, perhaps they'll hold a little bit less back, and we might get some idea of where last season's top three are—and whether anyone else is a little bit closer.