Leclerc keeps Ferrari at the forefront of F1 testing

Leclerc resumed where his teammate Sebastian Vettel had stopped the first day, just after the first hour just one fresh morning in Spain.

From there, he gradually improved his time and finally scored a 1m18,247 tire on the yellow C3 tires just before 11:30 local time.

Ferrari's new signature came back several times on the same mix of tires before lunch, barely missing the time lost to beat each race.

Haas and Alfa Romeo scored a double for Ferrari-equipped teams, with Kevin Magnussen scoring the second fastest time just before lunch.

Haas started the day slowly, spending a good part of the first two hours at the garage, but Magnussen was particularly busy during the last hour of the session, bringing his number of laps to 33.

Antonio Giovinazzi led the race early before Leclerc took control at the top of the standings, and his best lap with softer C4 tires was finally enough for third place.

Lando Norris placed McLaren in fourth place, accelerating on C2 tires earlier in the morning than Pierre Gasly, while Pierre Gasly propelled Red Bull to fifth with a faster race in the last 30 minutes before lunch with them. C3 tires.

Daniel Ricciardo made a positive start to the day for Renault, who was relegated to first place, as his debut was good enough to be second behind Leclerc.

However, his morning progress was canceled when the top flap of his rear wing fell into the main straight line, causing him to turn in turn 1.

Ricciardo – who fell to sixth place at lunchtime – slowly regained the pits while the Renault team members retrieved the pieces of the airside wing and sent them back to the garage. The Australian reappeared on the track shortly before the lunch break.

Lewis Hamilton finished another busy but unobtrusive session for Mercedes in seventh place, ahead of Toro Rosso rookie Alexander Albon, who turned twice on his first day of driving an F1 car. .

Albon made a U-turn just after the circuit opened at 9am. He found himself stuck in the gravel between turns 4 and 5, causing a red flag. When he joined the action, he made his next runs on the C4 tamped gum. .

He recovered 61 laps, but underwent another low-speed rotation at the last chicane, moments after establishing what was then his best time in the middle section.

Racing Point's new pilot, Lance Stroll, was the slowest rider in action, with 45 laps.