Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 with a 833km run on Barcelona F1 test 2, day 1 26.02.2020: The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team was back in action at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, completing 179 laps on the first day of the second test Date: Wednesday, 26 February 2020 Driver: Lewis Hamilton (AM), Valtteri Bottas (PM) Circuit: C

 
The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team was back in action at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, completing 179 laps on the first day of the second test


 
Date:    Wednesday, 26 February 2020
Driver:    Lewis Hamilton (AM), Valtteri Bottas (PM)
Circuit:    Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
Circuit Length:    4.655 km


Laps Completed:    Lewis 89, Valtteri 90, Total 179
Distance Covered:    Lewis 414 km, Valtteri 419 km, Total 833 km
Best Lap Time:    Lewis 1:17.562, Valtteri 1:18.100

 


It was a busy first day of the second pre-season test for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, with Valtteri and Lewis managing 833 kilometres of running with the new car.



•    Lewis was behind the wheel in the morning session and focused on set-up work on longer runs, alongside gathering aero data and trying out new aero components


•    Valtteri took over for the afternoon and ran a similar programme of car set-up, aero data collection and correlation work


•    Today's programme focused primarily on testing, correlating and gathering data on new aerodynamic components, as well as longer runs and set-up work


•    Mercedes-Benz Power Units completed a total of 1,923 km today


•    Valtteri will be driving the Mercedes-AMG F1 W11 EQ Performance tomorrow morning, before Lewis takes over for the afternoon




Lewis Hamilton


It's been a good session and a good start to the second week of testing here in Barcelona. We've just got our heads down, trying to continue increasing our mileage and our understanding of this car - through the subtle changes with car set-up, the tyres and the aerodynamic package.



A fairly standard day, but it was a bit windier out there and it felt like the track had less grip - so there was some sliding around. The car didn't quite feel as good as the first week, but I'm sure that will change as the test progresses and the track conditions improve.
 



Valtteri Bottas


Very good mileage today, 90 laps. For half a day in the car, that's really good. We got some good set-up tests done and focused on long running. I think we picked up lots of learning points, although it was a bit tricky this afternoon with gusty wind, which made it sometimes more difficult to understand the set-up changes in detail.



 But I am sure we'll analyse everything overnight and find the learnings from it. Everything ran smoothly, except a slightly late start to the day with some big changes over lunchtime. But still we got some good running in and it's good to be back in the car again.
 




James Allison


It was a productive day both in the morning and the afternoon, taking the opportunity that winter testing grants us to explore the car thoroughly, in ways that are near-impossible once the racing season starts. We tested the new prototype tyre with Lewis in the morning, which was trouble-free, and ran through set-up changes with both drivers. It was an interesting day, because it got quite gusty at various points.




That was useful for us, learning how to get the best from the car as the wind picks up. Tomorrow, we will continue to explore the basic behaviour of the car, before focusing more on performance on the final day of testing.
 

 


1     Robert Kubica (88)     Alfa Romeo     1:16.942     53
2     Max Verstappen (33)     Red Bull     1:17.347     84
3     Sergio Perez (11)     Racing Point     1:17.428     84
4     Daniil Kvyat (26)     AlphaTauri     1:17.456     61
5     Pierre Gasly (10)     AlphaTauri     1:17.540     25
6     Alex Albon (23)     Red Bull     1:17.550     29
7     Lewis Hamilton (44)     Mercedes-AMG Petronas     1:17.562     89
8    Lance Stroll (18)     Racing Point     1:17.787     43
9     Valtteri Bottas (77)     Mercedes-AMG Petronas     1:18.100     90
10     Sebastian Vettel (5)     Ferrari     1:18.113     84
11     Daniel Ricciardo (3)     Renault     1:18.214     53
12     Carlos Sainz (55)     McLaren     1:18.221     46
13     Charles Leclerc (16)     Ferrari    1:18.244     80
14     Nicholas Latifi (6)     Williams     1:18.300     48
15     George Russell (63)     Williams     1:18.535     59
16     Romain Grosjean (8)     Haas     1:18.670     107
17     Lando Norris (4)     McLaren     1:18.826     57
18     Kimi Räikkönen (7)     Alfa Romeo     1:19.515     51
19     Esteban Ocon (31)     Renault     1:21.542     74


 
Bradley Lord- photos Mercedes