Formula 1 Pre-Season Testing: 5 Observations from Day 2 at Barcelona
There was a sense of deja vu on Day 1 of the second pre-season test at Barcelona, as the likes of McLaren-Honda and Red Bull Racing continued to suffer the problems which hindered their progress in the opening test of 2015.
Day 2, though, seemed to mark the beginning of a resurgence for both teams, as Daniel Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso led a fightback against Mercedes and Ferrari, recording the most laps for their respective teams so far this winter.
The upturn in fortunes of both Red Bull and McLaren are just two things that were brought to our attention on Day 2, the remainder of which you can read here.
McLaren-Honda Exceed Expectations After Opening Day Disaster
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With Jenson Button limited to just 21 laps on Day 1, Friday was set to be a crushing day for McLaren-Honda.
Honda's Yasuhisa Arai told the team's official website that a replacement part for a faulty MGU-K seal—the reason behind McLaren's lack of progress on Thursday—was not due to arrive at the track until Saturday, meaning any running on Friday would be extremely limited.
That, of course, depended on whether the team could get the car to run at all as they waited for the spare part.
The decision to alter the team's driving schedule—Fernando Alonso took to the wheel in place of Button on Day 2—was an indication of the downbeat vibe at McLaren, with the switch almost certainly made to give both drivers an equal share of the misery.
But McLaren needn't have worried, as the MP4-30 went on to enjoy its most successful day yet in terms of mileage.
Alonso ended Friday with 59 laps under his belt, considerably more than McLaren's previous best single-day tally of 35, achieved by Button on Day 4 at Jerez.
The fact that the team managed to complete a decent amount of laps, in spite of their technical troubles, is perhaps a reflection of the ever-improving working relationship between McLaren and Honda, and it is another reminder that the partnership is heading in the right direction.
Another Good, If Shortened, Day for Nico Rosberg
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Nico Rosberg managed to shrug off a neck injury to return to the Mercedes cockpit for Day 2, but that wasn't the only piece of good news on Friday morning.
Less than half an hour until the start of the day's running, the 29-year-old took to Twitter to announce that he is to become a father in the summer.
As messages of congratulations flooded in, Rosberg was doing what Rosberg has done best this winter, racking up a mighty number of laps behind the wheel of the W06 Hybrid.
He ended the morning session with more laps than anyone under his belt, with the German's tally of 66 the exact equivalent of a Spanish Grand Prix distance at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
A change of schedule at Mercedes led to Rosberg handing driving duties over to team-mate Lewis Hamilton—who was sidelined for much of Day 1 with a fever, according to Sky Sports' Pete Gill—for the afternoon, as the Silver Arrows confirmed the move was a "precautionary measure."
Hamilton went on to add 89 laps to Mercedes' Day 2 tally.
Rosberg may not have spent as much time as he might have wanted in the W06—he passed the 100-lap mark in both of his previous days in the car—but one suspects even an early bath couldn't take the shine off his day.
Good things tend to come in quick succession for Rosberg, who last year won his home race at Hockenheim in the week that saw him sign a new deal with Mercedes, get married and witness Germany win the FIFA World Cup.
Red Bull Get Back on Track
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After encountering a number of problems at the start of the winter, the most notable of which led to their car running without a front wing, Red Bull were in desperate need of a clean and productive day.
And it finally arrived on the second day at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, where Daniel Ricciardo completed more laps than anyone and, for good measure, recorded the fastest time.
After completing 64 laps in the morning session, the Australian performed a full race simulation in the afternoon, a long run which the team took with the utmost seriousness, as highlighted by Sky Sports' Ted Kravitz.
Ricciardo ended the day, and his test, with a whopping 143 laps under his belt and the knowledge that he'd played his part in easing the concerns of the team, as well as engine suppliers Renault, before Daniil Kvyat takes to the RB11 cockpit for the final two days.
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Mercedes 'Beat' Red Bull in Long Run Head-to-Head
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Although Red Bull did enjoy a return to form on Day 2, the four-time world champions' current deficit to Mercedes was evident in the afternoon session.
As pleasant as it is to top the time sheets in pre-season testing, a true indication of a car's overall performance can be found in its pace and consistency over long runs and race simulations.
And it was where Red Bull were found wanting on Friday, as both Daniel Ricciardo and Lewis Hamilton were sent out for extended stints.
Autosport Live reported on Twitter that there was "nothing" between the drivers in terms of lap times, but the reason for this soon became clear as the same source tweeted that Hamilton was running on hard tyres, whereas Ricciardo had a set of soft tyres bolted onto his car.
That Ricciardo failed to establish a clearer advantage over his Mercedes counterpart, despite using the theoretically faster compound of rubber, highlights how strong the Silver Arrows are at this stage in comparison to the only other team to win a race last season.
Williams Finally Join the Party
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Williams have spent much of the winter under the radar, conducting their testing program in an understated yet confident and professional manner as their rivals chased the headlines.
It is arguably the most noble way of approaching pre-season testing, but the trouble for the rest of us—despite Valtteri Bottas telling ESPN F1 after the first day at Jerez that the FW37 is a step forward on last year's surprise package—is that we had little idea just how fast the car is.
However, with the team's Rod Nelson telling Williams' official website that the focus "is moving from reliability and long runs to more performance based tests," the wider world got its first sign of the true pace of the 2015 car on Day 2.
Bottas' team-mate, Felipe Massa—who was visited by Neymar, the Barcelona forward, in the Williams garage—completed the fewest laps of anyone in the top five with just 88, but finished third on the time sheets on the soft tyres, as per Pirelli Motorsport.
The Brazilian's fastest lap of 1:24.672, according to the official F1 website, was within a tenth of the pace-setting time of Daniel Ricciardo, proving the inherent pace of the Williams.
Expect to see the Grove-based team become regular challengers at the top of the leader board for the remainder of pre-season.
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