Ferrari, McLaren show their mettle
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BARCELONA • Charles Leclerc went fastest for Ferrari on the second day of Formula One testing in Barcelona on Thursday, with the Italian team and rivals McLaren emerging as the most promising contenders in the sport's new era.
The Monegasque set a time of 1min 19.689sec, having taken over after lunch from teammate Carlos Sainz who was in the Maranello-based team's car in the morning.
That put him ahead of Frenchman Pierre Gasly, who was second for AlphaTauri with Daniel Ricciardo third for McLaren.
The Australian, getting his first testing run in the car, was fastest going into the lunch break, after teammate Lando Norris had set the pace on Wednesday.
But he was usurped in the afternoon by Leclerc, who together with fifth-placed Sainz put Ferrari on top of the mileage charts for the second day in a row.
Said Leclerc: "Again, we should not get ahead of ourselves, because first doesn't mean anything at this stage."
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who drove for Mercedes in the morning, propped up the timesheets.
But his new teammate George Russell, who took over after lunch, put the constructors' champions fourth overall.
"A red team and an orange team in particular look very competitive," he said, referring to Ferrari and McLaren. "They seem to have things well under control and are on top of everything."
Sergio Perez took over at Red Bull from reigning world champion Max Verstappen, who had clocked the highest individual lap count on Wednesday.
But the Mexican's running was not as trouble-free as he ground to a halt with a gearbox issue in the morning session, causing the first red-flag stoppage of the year.
Perez did make it back out to end the day with 78 laps and the seventh-fastest time.
Zhou Guanyu, who this season will become the first Chinese Formula One driver, made his testing debut for Alfa Romeo. He completed 71 laps on his way to 10th.
Lap times count for little in testing with teams and drivers running different programmes and fuel loads.
They are also still familiarising themselves with their new cars, which have been radically redesigned to improve the racing spectacle in the biggest rules shake-up in decades.
REUTERS