Mercedes have continued their eye-catching testing programme with drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton at the first day of the second test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Rosberg completed 82 laps in the morning before Hamilton completed 90 in the afternoon, taking the team’s total to 847 in testing so far.
One of the previous highlights of testing was the reliability of the Silver Arrows, however, Rosberg also reminded us of the car’s speed by taking the fastest time of the session.
The German set a lap time of 1:23.022 to finish two-tenths of a second ahead of Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat. Hamilton finished sixth fastest with a lap time just over two seconds slower than his teammate on a different programme to his teammate.
In the session, Rosberg seemed pleased to start to push the car harder: “It was a decent morning and we’re making progress. It was nice for me to be able to push some more and produce some stronger lap times. We were doing qualifying practice this morning – it’s important to practise that as well.
“And that’s when it’s more enjoyable; taking the car to the limit and really pushing. It’s been a good test, reliability has been good, the speed has been there – it’s all working to plan.”
Meanwhile, Hamilton was again content with a race simulation with his new car: “It was a great afternoon of running with great mileage. We did a race simulation and after that I feel I’m ready for race one.
“The car is feeling great and was consistent all day. It’s been a monumental effort from this team to get the car to where it is today. I’m truly grateful to everyone for every bit of work they have put in so far.”
The two drivers are set to alternate again for the remaining three days of testing.
