Kimi Raikkonen Finishes Fastest on Second Day of Pre Season Testing

Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen has finished fastest on the second day of testing ahead of Racing Point’s Sergio Perez by 0.256s. 

Setting a 1m 17.091 in the final hour before bringing out the first red flag of pre-season after deliberately running out of fuel on track to finish the day early, Raikkonen toppled Perez’s 1m 17.347 which had gone unchallenged since mid-morning as teams focused on long running for majoirty of today. 

Ricciardo who ran in the morning finished the day in third with a 1m 17.749 ahead of Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly, of which the latter overcame an early spin to wrap up the day just 0.010s behind Albon

Williams opted to run George Russell all day with the Brit winding up seventh with a 1m 18.266, in a Ferrari sandwich as Sebastian Vettel made his 2020 pre-season debut in sixth position whilst Charles Leclerc ended his day in eighth. 

 

Controversy at Mercedes

Mercedes found themselves at the centre of a technical controversy after debuting their new dual-axis steering which has caused a stir amongst teams. 

This system allows the driver to alter the ‘toe in’ of their front wheels or the angle to the longitudinal axis of their car via the driver’s steering wheel, which can move towards the driver on straights and away when cornering.

It is understood that the FIA are “ok” with the system according to Lewis Hamilton who participated in a lunchtime press conference alongside Mercedes Technical Director, James Allison as part of F1TV. 

Hamilton finished the day in ninth ahead of Lando Norris who was first out on track in both sessions. 

Haas’ Romain Grosjean managed to end the day in 11th despite a late spin at Turn Five, ahead of Esteban Ocon and Valtteri Bottas who both only ran in the afternoon. 

 

Full Results for Day Two of 2020 F1 Pre-Season Testing;

1. Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) – 1m 17.091 (134 laps)
2. Sergio Perez (Racing Point) – 1m 17.347 (145 laps)
3. Daniel Ricciardo (Renault) – 1m 17.749 (41 laps)
4. Alex Albon (Red Bull) – 1m 17.983 (132 laps)
5. Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri) – 1m 18.121 (146 laps)
6. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) – 1m 154 (72 laps)
7. George Russell (Williams) – 1m 18.266 (116 laps)
8. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 1m 18.335 (49 laps)
9. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 1m 18.387 (106 laps)
10. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 1m 18.474 (136 laps)
11. Romain Grosjean (Haas) – 1m 18.496 (158 laps)
12. Esteban Ocon (Renault) – 1m 18.557 (49 laps)
13. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) – 1m 19.307 (77 laps)