2014 GP2 Series champion Jolyon Palmer set the best time on the second and final day of the in-season Formula 1 test at the Circuit de Catalunya on Wednesday.
The Lotus F1 Team reserve driver took over the car from Pastor Maldonado for the day, and ran 87 clean laps of the Spanish track, setting a best lap time of 1m26.080s on a day interrupted by three red flag periods.
The first red flag was caused by Sauber F1 Team reserve driver Raffaele Marciello crashing his car at turn three, while Red Bull’s Pierre Gasly and Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz both stopped on track, the Frenchman at pit exit and the Spaniard at pit entry.
Pascal Wehrlein, still not 100% after illness forced him to withdraw from running with Force India on Tuesday, returned to test for Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS, and completed a day-high 137 laps for the team, turning in the second fastest time, 0.417s slower than Palmer.
Gasly, having switched from testing with Scuderia Toro Rosso on Tuesday to the Infiniti Red Bull Racing outfit on Wednesday, was third quickest despite his stoppage, completing 75 laps, and was 0.603s back from the fastest time of the day.
Jenson Button enjoyed a better day in his McLaren-Honda, running 100 laps of the Circuit de Catalunya and posting the fourth fastest time, while Alex Lynn turned in 52 laps on his first time testing for his Williams Martini Racing employees having joined the team pre-season as a Development Driver.
Esteban Ocon was sixth fastest in his first time testing for Sahara Force India, running 94 laps, while Esteban Gutierrez ended seventh on his first day of running for Scuderia Ferrari. The Mexican set a best time of 1m27.930s and completed 118 laps.
Sainz was eighth fastest despite stopping on track during the afternoon, while Marciello propped up the times despite being able to get back on track after his early crash.
Circuit de Catalunya In-Season Test Day 2 Times
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