Valtteri Bottas tops the timesheets on Day 2 at Barcelona test

Valtteri Bottas tops the timesheets on Day 2 of the second pre-season F1 test at Barcelona

On the second day of the second pre-season F1 test of the 2016 season at the Circuit de Barcelona, Williams driver Valtteri Bottas was quickest ahead of Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton and Renault driver Kevin Magnussen as new team Haas continued to struggle with another reliability issue.

But it was Valtteri Bottas who was quickest with a lap time of 1:23.261 which was actually slower than his best effort on Tuesday. Bottas finished ahead of Lewis Hamilton in second place as the Mercedes team are splitting all four days of this week’s test between him and his team mate Nico Rosberg.

Today it was Rosberg’s turn to complete a race simulation in the afternoon while Hamilton went in search of a quick qualifying-style lap on soft tyres in the morning.

Rosberg finished ahead of Kevin Magnussen in third place whose relationship with his new Renault seems to be improving. His time was set on super-softs and is the best lap recorded by the RS16 in testing so far. However, when compared with the laps of rival teams on the same tyre compounds, the Renault is still lacking. His team mate Jolyon Palmer will take over driving duties for the remaining two days.

After concerns about reliability on Tuesday, Ferrari answered its critics with 144 laps of the Circuit de Catalunya today. Much like Mercedes in the first week of testing, Sebastian Vettel stuck to the medium compound tyre and aimed for consistency over longer runs. He finished the day in fourth place but more importantly a lot more confidence in the durability of the SF16-H.

The McLaren-Honda continued to run its updated Honda power unit without major issue, although the team is still playing down expectations ahead of the first race. Jenson Button finished the day in fifth place ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in sixth place, Carlos Sainz in seventh place and Sergio Perez in eighth place.

Nico Rosberg finished the session in ninth place ahead of Pascal Wehrlein in tenth place and Marcus Ericsson in eleventh place. With both Manor and Sauber failing to reach the 100 lap milestone, things could be better for both teams especially Marcus Ericsson who caused a late red flag when the new C35 stopped on track.

At the other end of the pit lane, Ferrari engine customer Haas was not having such a smooth day.

On Tuesday, a fuel sensor issue stopped Esteban Gutierrez after 23 laps and on Wednesday a problem with the turbo limited him to just one lap at the wheel of the VF-16. It was the worst day of the team’s short testing programme so far, but Gene Haas said problems are to be expected in the first weeks of testing.

Here's the official classification from Day Two of the pre-season test as follows:-

Day Two Timesheet:-

1.Valtteri Bottas – Williams – 1:23.261 – 107 laps
2.Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes – 1:23.622 – 73 laps(am)
3.Kevin Magnussen – Renault – 1:23.933 – 126 laps
4.Sebastian Vettel – Ferrari – 1:24.611 – 151 laps
5.Jenson Button – McLaren – 1:25.183 – 121 laps
6.Daniel Ricciardo – Red Bull – 1:25.235 – 135 laps
7.Carlos Sainz – Toro Rosso – 1:25.300 – 166 laps
8.Sergio Perez – Force India – 1:25.593 – 128 laps
9.Nico Rosberg – Mercedes – 1:26.298 – 91 laps (pm)
10.Pascal Wehrlein – Manor – 1:27.064 – 79 laps
11.Marcus Ericsson – Sauber – 1:27.487 – 55 laps
12.Esteban Gutierrez – Haas – No time – 1 lap

Keep your eyes peeled at Driving for Pleasure for our reports of the next two days of the second F1 pre-season test at the Circuit de Barcelona.

Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa