Charles Leclerc quickest on second day of F1 winter testing with Lando Norris second

Ferrari continue to dominate the time sheets during winter testing as Charles Leclerc set the day’s fastest time on his first run in the SF90 at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Although pre-season times only provide small clues into the real order of who has the edge heading into the new season, Ferrari’s dominant pace over the first two days of testing suggests they at least have a very competitive package.

Leclerc’s morning time of 1m18.247s was unbeaten in the afternoon as the Monegasque finished three tenths quicker than Britain’s Lando Norris.

Charles Leclerc helped Ferrari dominate the time sheets on day two of F1 winter testing

Fans at the Circuit de Catalunya look on from benches as Leclerc who was fastest on day two

The McLaren star, who will compete in his first F1 season this year, went for a late run on soft tyres that helped fire him up the time sheets, with Kevin Magnussen rounding up the top three.  

Lewis Hamilton was back behind the wheel for Mercedes, who continued their conservative start to pre-season, and finished down in 10th from 12 runners with a time of 1m19.928s.

The world champion’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas took the cockpit of the W10 in the afternoon, running four tenths quicker to place sixth.

Below the Finn was Red Bull’s Pierre Gasly, who late in the afternoon suffered a clumsy spin at Turn 11 that spat him into the barrier, seeing him miss the last hour of the session. 

Brit-born Thai driver Alex Albon recovered from a spin in his first four laps behind a Toro Rosso to finish fourth quickest ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi. Like Norris both drivers set their quickest time on the softer tyre.

Renault grabbed the headlines in the morning with Daniel Ricciardo suffering a rear wing failure before spinning off track and he eventually finished ninth quickest behind team-mate Nico Hulkenberg who drove the car in the afternoon.

Racing Point’s Lance Stroll was 11th, while Pietro Fittipaldi, grandson of double world champion Emerson, completed the top 12 for Haas. 

Williams were once again absent from running after missing day one of testing, but are confident of finally making it on the track for the third day of running on Wednesday.

The struggling Grove outfit have seen a delay in getting their car to Barcelona, but believe their car will get to the track for 6am latest ahead of running in the afternoon session.