Jerez Day 2 / Romain Grosjean stands out

He was definitely in good shape. Romain Grosjean has just concluded the second day of testing in Jerez with the best time. Already in the lead at 13 p.m., the driver aboard his Lotus E21 further increased the pace and improved his time by around 0”600, completing the fastest of his 95 laps covered in 1’18”218! Throughout a rather calm afternoon, the Frenchman performed fast laps with ease. The only downside was that his car stopped on the track for an as yet undetermined reason a few minutes before the official end of the session.

Behind him, Paul di Resta, very lively this morning, did not improve his time of 1'19"003 but concentrated on stringing together laps during a race simulation. An hour before the end of the session, the latter left his place to a ghost: James Rossiter. The Briton, former test driver for Honda and Super Aguri, had no longer competed in a F1 since 2008 during tests, right here in Jerez. New development driver for the Indian team, his mission was to compare the experience behind the wheel of the car with that of the simulator, in which he will work the vast majority of the time. He finished tenth for the day. (1’21”273).

In the rest of the ranking, few drivers have improved their performance. Daniel Ricciardo on his Toro Rosso completes the top 3 with his 1’19”134 signed in the morning. You then have to go up to ninth place to see a change. Pastor Maldonado, who had only completed 7 laps at the start of the day, ultimately completed 71 laps, the fastest of which was 1'20"693. For his very first day as a Marussia driver, Luiz Razia brings up the rear more than 5”319 behind the leader of the day. Note that the problems continue for Mercedes. After the problems encountered by Nico Rosberg yesterday, Lewis Hamilton could not get back on track this afternoon. Victim from leaving the road this morning caused by a brake problem, the Mercedes W04 could not be repaired. This is the second prematurely interrupted trial day in two days for the Silver Arrows. Find all the highlights of this second day of testing commented by our special correspondent in Jerez.

Results of the second day of testing in Jerez:
1/ Romain Grosjean – Lotus – (1’18”218)
2/ Paul Di Resta – Force India – (1’19”003)
3/ Daniel Ricciardo – Toro Rosso – (1’19”134)
4/ Mark Webber – Red Bull – (1’19”338)
5/ Nico Hulkenberg – Sauber – (1’19”502)
6/ Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes – (1’19”519)
7/ Sergio Pérez – McLaren – (1’19”572)
8/ Felipe Massa – Ferrari – (1’19”914)
9/ Pastor Maldonado – Williams – (1’20”693)
10/ James Rossiter – Force India – (1’21”273)
11/ Giedo Van der Garde – Caterham – (1’21”311)
12/ Luiz Razia – Marussia – (1’23”367).