Romain Grosjean ended the second day of the final pre-season test quickest, continuing his good form from yesterday, when he also set the fastest lap.
The Lotus driver stole the top spot from Jean-Eric Vergne who had held the position for much of the day, until Grosjean went out with three minutes to go on soft tyres.
Vergne settled for second, though his day wasn’t straight forward after suffering an engine failure just after lunch, causing one of eight red flags, which severely limited his running to 45 laps.
The first red flag came at the very beginning as the session was delayed because of fog, but was later extended by 30 minutes to ensure the teams could complete their programmes.
Pastor Maldonado, who finished slowest for Williams, also caused a morning red flag when he stopped at turn six. Meanwhile Michael Schumacher was the culprit for two flags. The German’s second coming when his Mercedes ended up in the gravel trap at turn 5.
Other stoppages included Sebastian Vettel, third quickest and Nico Hulkenberg, seventh quickest.
Lewis Hamilton could only manage ninth after focusing on short stints and pit stops.
Bruno Senna was eight tenths slower than Hamilton to finish tenth, a further eight tenths faster than his teammate after the two swapped after lunch.
Test times from Barcelona (Day 2):
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01. | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 1:22.614 | — | 124 |
| 02. | J. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:23.126 | +0.512 | 45 |
| 03. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:23.361 | +0.747 | 85 |
| 04. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:23.447 | +0.833 | 125 |
| 05. | H. Kovalainen | Caterham | 1:23.828 | +1.214 | 104 |
| 06. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:23.836 | +1.222 | 77 |
| 07. | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:23.893 | +1.279 | 36 |
| 08. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:23.978 | +1.364 | 79 |
| 09. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:24.111 | +1.497 | 65 |
| 10. | B. Senna | Williams | 1:24.925 | +2.311 | 48 |
| 11. | P. Maldonado | Williams | 1:25.801 | +3.187 | 20 |
