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Raikkonen tops second day of F1 testing

Kimi Raikkonen ended the second day of Formula 1 pre-season testing fastest for Alfa Romeo as Mercedes debuted its new dual-axis steering system.

Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo Racing C39

Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo Racing C39

Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

After seeing Sergio Perez lead the way through the morning session, Raikkonen was able to displace the Racing Point driver at the top of the timesheets in the final hour of running.

Raikkonen set a time of 1m17.091s on the softest available tyre - C5 - with 45 minutes remaining, giving him P1 by two tenths of a second.

It capped off a productive day for Raikkonen, who racked up 134 laps in his first extended run in the new Alfa Romeo C39 car, having only previously driven it during the Fiorano shakedown last week.

Raikkonen sparked the first red flag of 2020 pre-season running when his Alfa Romeo car came to a halt between Turn 8 and Turn 9 with 17 minutes left on the clock, bringing the day to an early end.

Early pace-setter Perez failed to beat his morning benchmark after focusing on long-runs through the afternoon, but still finished the day second overall ahead of Renault's Daniel Ricciardo.

Ricciardo completed fewer laps than any other driver after only featuring in the morning session, managing just 41 laps before handing over to teammate Esteban Ocon for the afternoon, who finished 12th fastest.

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Alexander Albon finished fourth for Red Bull in his maiden outing in the new Red Bull RB16, while AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly ended up fifth fastest.

After missing the opening day of testing through illness, Sebastian Vettel featured for Ferrari in the afternoon on Thursday, recording 73 laps en route to sixth place overall.

Charles Leclerc finished less than two tenths behind Vettel in eighth, the pair split by Williams's George Russell, who continued the team's strong start to testing with 116 laps in the book.

Lewis Hamilton set Mercedes's fastest time of the day in ninth place, but his running was more notable for the first usage of the team's dual-axis steering (DAS) system.

Hamilton was spotted making adjustments to the toe angle of the front wheels by pulling the steering wheel towards his body during the morning session, sparking intrigue through the paddock.

Teammate Valtteri Bottas took over in the Mercedes W11 for the afternoon, and was also seen using the DAS system.

Bottas propped up the timesheets in 13th place after focusing on long runs, with his day coming to an end with one hour left on the clock due to an electrical issue.

Lando Norris took 10th for McLaren ahead of Haas driver Romain Grosjean as both recorded more than two race distances through Thursday's running.

Friday marks the final day of running at the opening pre-season test, which starts at 9am local time in Barcelona.

Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps Compound
1 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 1m17.091s   134 C5
2 Sergio Perez Racing Point 1m17.347s +0.256s 145 C3
3 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1m17.749s +0.658s 41 C32
4 Alex Albon Red Bull 1m17.912s +0.821s 134 C2
5 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 1m18.121s +1.030s 147 C2
6 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m18.154s +1.063s 73 C4
7 George Russell Williams 1m18.266s +1.175s 116 C3
8 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1m18.335s +1.244s 49 C3
9 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m18.387s +1.296s 106 C1
10 Lando Norris McLaren 1m18.474s +1.383s 137 C3
11 Romain Grosjean Haas 1m18.496s +1.405s 158 C3
12 Esteban Ocon Renault 1m18.557s +1.466s 52 C2
13 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1m19.307s +2.216s 77 C2

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