Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren, Circuit de Catalunya, 2022

Ricciardo keeps McLaren on top as Perez stops on track

2022 F1 season

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Daniel Ricciardo set the quickest time in the morning session on the second day of pre-season testing at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.

After Lando Norris ended day one of the three day first test yesterday on top of the times, team mate Daniel Ricciardo took over in the MCL36, covering 64 laps – almost a race distance – and setting a best lap time of 1’20.355 in the closing minutes to end the morning session second in the times.

Carlos Sainz Jnr completed 71 laps with a best lap time of a 1’20.546 that saw him head into the hour-long lunch break second in the timing screens. It just over a tenth slower than his best effort from yesterday’s afternoon session.

Pierre Gasly set the third quickest time of the morning on his first day’s running in the AT03, setting a 1’20.764 to go over eight tenths of a second quicker than team mate Yuki Tsunoda’s best lap from yesterday.

Red Bull caused the first red flag of the test
It was a more quiet morning for last year’s major championship contenders – Red Bull and Mercedes. Sergio Perez logged the least distance of any of the ten drivers on track aside from Valtteri Bottas over the four hours, putting in 38 laps before his Red Bull RB18 slowed to a stop on the exit of turn 13 with around thirty minutes remaining, prompting the first red flag stoppage of the test.

Lewis Hamilton drove 40 laps in the W13, but his best effort was only good enough to see him end the session having set the ninth fastest time.

Bottas will hand the Alfa Romeo C42 over to rookie team mate Guanyu Zhou for his first run in the test. Nicholas Latifi will take over the Williams from Alex Albon, while Sebastian Vettel and Nikita Mazepin will drive in the afternoon session for Aston Martin and Haas, respectively.

2022 F1 pre-season testing day two morning times

Pos.Car numberDriverTeamModelBest timeGapLaps
13Daniel RicciardoMcLarenMCL361’20.35564
255Carlos Sainz JnrFerrariF1-751’20.5460.19171
310Pierre GaslyAlphaTauriAT031’20.7640.40960
423Alexander AlbonWilliamsFW441’21.5311.17647
518Lance StrollAston MartinAMR221’21.9201.56555
647Mick SchumacherHaasVF-221’21.9491.59465
777Valtteri BottasAlfa RomeoC421’22.2881.93321
811Sergio PerezRed BullRB181’22.4122.05738
944Lewis HamiltonMercedesW131’22.5622.20740
1031Esteban OconAlpineA5221’23.2802.92566

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Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

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7 comments on “Ricciardo keeps McLaren on top as Perez stops on track”

  1. Stop it. I’m starting to daydream in (floral) papaya orange!

  2. To me that late afternoon shot of RIC looks stunning!!!
    Still a l-o-n-g way to go to race 23.

    1. Except it is a morning shot.
      I said the McLaren looked promising to me but I must also say, McLaren looks a little light on sponsors

  3. Haas managed to have a a good number of laps today, I hope Alfa Romeo will be able to get some data as well. They can’t afford to miss this tests

  4. I see that a number of the teams have been suffering from Porpoising which was an issue in the last era of ground effects & one of the reasons drivers of the time (In both F1 & Indycar) hated those cars.

    If it’s as bad as it could be then it is going to become a safety issue as if it happens in the middle of a high speed corner the car is going to lose most of it’s downforce (As the floor stalls) & will without warning fly off track with the driver having no chance to save it.

    I think the fact most of the drivers of the time actually hated the ground effects cars is something that’s actually often forgotten because it’s always just decided that ground effects is some sort of magic bullet that will solve all the sports problems & that is therefore has no negatives. The list of drivers that were killed/nearly killed as a result of some of the negatives back then is just ignored I guess.

    1. You’re also choosing to ignore some of the differences between now and then. Now the teams have reams of data and simulations to predict and deal with these issues. Safety-wise, high-speed crashes are still scary, but they are nowhere near as dangerous as before. I’d say Verstappen’s crash at Silverstone last year was a pretty good example of what happens when a modern-day F1 car suddenly breaks traction in a high-speed corner. Not great, of course, but absolutely not comparable in terms of danger to 40 years ago. And if this really turns into a recurring issue that can’t be fixed, F1 could always reintroduce systems like active suspension to deal with it.

  5. Carlos running on both days? That gives as a form guide on Lando vs daniel……

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