Having set a blistering time in the morning session, Nico Rosberg remained fastest on day one of the second pre-season Formula 1 test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
The German put in a 1:23.022 on the soft tyre to set the pace in the morning and his time proved to be unbeatable, with Valtteri Bottas coming closest on the ultra soft Pirelli compound.
Mercedes once again split its running, with Rosberg completing 82 laps in the earlier session and ending the day quickest. Team-mate Lewis Hamilton then took over driving the W07 in the afternoon, finishing sixth with a 1:25.041 on the mediums after 90 laps.
Bottas was second quickest after a productive day in the Williams FW38, finishing two tenths off Rosberg’s time, albeit on the new ultra soft tyre. Fernando Alonso set his best time in the morning and was third, managing 93 laps despite a telemetry issue delayed his running.
The Spaniard brought out the red flag late in the morning after stopping on track. The flag later appeared to attend to Kimi Raikkonen’s broken-down Ferrari SF16-H, which was parked just past the pit lane exit. Raikkonen ended the day fourth on the medium tyre with 72 laps on the board.
Daniil Kvyat suffered a disrupted day of running in the RB12 but he improved to fifth in the afternoon on the soft tyre. After Hamilton, Max Verstappen made a late improvement on the yellow-marked Pirelli compound to go seventh, managing 144 laps in total – the most of the day.
Nico Hulkenberg was another driver who improved in the closing stages of the session, putting in a 1:25.336 on the softs. Felipe Nasr debuted the new Sauber C35 and was ninth overall, clocking up 103 laps of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Kevin Magnussen brought out a late red flag in the final minutes after stopping at Turn 3. However, overall it was a busy day for the Danish driver and he completed 119 laps in the Renault RS16, finishing 10th.
Esteban Gutierrez was 11th after just 23 laps, with Haas F1’s running being cut short by a fuel system issue. Rio Haryanto completed the leaderboard for Manor with a 1:27.625 on the soft tyre. He managed 45 laps.
Pre-season testing – Test 2 – Day 1 Final Times:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Tyre | Laps |
| 1 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:23.022 |
 |
82 | |
| 2 | V. Bottas | Williams | 1:23.229 | 0.207 |
 |
123 |
| 3 | F. Alonso | McLaren | 1:24.735 | 1.713 |
|
93 |
| 4 | K. Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:24.836 | 1.814 |
 |
72 |
| 5 | D. Kvyat | Red Bull | 1:25.049 | 2.027 |
|
69 |
| 6 | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:25.051 | 2.029 |
|
90 |
| 7 | M. Verstappen | Toro Rosso | 1:25.176 | 2.154 |
|
144 |
| 8 | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:25.336 | 2.314 |
|
121 |
| 9 | F. Nasr | Sauber | 1:25.493 | 2.471 |
|
103 |
| 10 | K. Magnussen | Renault | 1:25.760 | 2.738 |
|
119 |
| 11 | E. Gutierrez | Haas | 1:26.661 | 3.639 |
|
23 |
| 12 | R. Haryanto | Manor | 1:27.625 | 4.603 |
|
45 |
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