Sergio Pérez sets the pace at Barcelona tests

On a pattern similar to yesterday, with no interruptions on track, Sergio Pérez (Racing Point F1) dominated the debates on this second morning of the Barcelona winter testing.

The Mexican distinguished himself in 1'17 "347, time achieved on medium yellow C3 tires shortly before 11 a.m., thus taking the advantage of more than four tenths over the previous reference established by Daniel Ricciardo (Renault) in 1'17″749, the Australian having also set his time on the C3 compound.

Alex Albon place it Red Bull RB16 in third place by more than eight tenths, having achieved its benchmark on hard white C2 tires. Follows Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri), 4th at 0″818, after a start to the day immediately marked by a spin (visibly with tires not warm enough).

Going for an early morning spin

Those chilly Barcelona mornings can bite at any moment, as Pierre Gasly found out #F1 #F1Testing pic.twitter.com/d3rPnSPreF

- Formula 1 (@ F1) February 20, 2020

Just a scare for the Frenchman, who was then able to resume his program with the Italian team to complete 77 laps.

George Russell hoists his Williams FW43 in 5th position ahead Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), the two drivers being last in the same second as Pérez. You have to look at 1″040 to find traces of the Mercedes W11 from Lewis Hamilton, but the Briton clearly placed the emphasis on long relays and a more racing pace this Thursday morning.

The world champion is also credited with the greatest number of laps, with 106 crossings over the line. Note that this morning saw the emergence of videos highlighting a very specific behavior of the steering wheel of the car starry, a case to which we return in this article below.

>>>>> Intriguing new “mode” on the Mercedes steering system <<<<

The ranking is completed by Romain Grosjean (Haas), diligent on the track with 87 laps, Kimi Räikkönen (Alfa Romeo) and Lando Norris (McLaren), discreet with 48 small loops.

The afternoon session will begin at 14 p.m. and can still be followed live via our live-text.