Grosjean leads the way on Day Two

Wednesday 6th February 2013

Grosjean leads the way on Day Two

Grosjean leads the way on Day Two

Romain Grosjean set the pace on Day Two at Jerez, however, it was the plight of Mercedes that made headlines.

Having amassed just 11 laps on Tuesday before an electrical problem and the subsequent fire brought an end to Nico Rosberg's day, Lewis Hamilton had hoped for better in his first official day of testing. It was not to be.

After just 15 laps the Mercedes driver suffered a rear brake pressure problem that sent him sliding into the barriers at the Dry Sack hairpin.

The accident damaged the front of Hamilton's W04 and brought his day's running to an end as Mercedes needed time to fix the initial brake issue.

The Brit finished the day down in sixth place on the timesheets, 1.3s behind pace-setter Grosjean.

The Lotus driver, spending his second day behind the wheel of the new E21, clocked a 1:18.218. However, on his last of the day - his 95th - the Frenchman came to a halt betweens Turn 3 and 4 bringing out the red flag.

Paul di Resta was second quickest for Force India, 0.795s off the pace while Daniel Ricciardo was third. The Toro Rosso was also the last to get within a second of Grosjean's P1 time.

"A few more laps today and a bit of a clearer picture of what the STR8 is like," said Ricciardo.

"We completed our programme, with short runs in the morning and longer ones in the afternoon. We also tried the Medium Pirelli, having only used the Hard yesterday, so at least for this circuit, we have established a good compare of the two compounds.

"We ran through several other test items and I think we can be satisfied with the day's work that has produced some useful information."

Mark Webber had a problem-free day in his RB9, finishing fourth ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, who was another driver that brought out the red flags. The German stopped his Sauber between Turns 8 and 9 after reportedly running out of fuel.

Hamilton was sixth ahead of his McLaren replacement Sergio Perez, who was in the new MP4-28 for the first tie. The Mexican driver was 1.354s of the pace but three-tenths ahead of Ferrari's Felipe Massa.

Times
01. Romain Grosjean Lotus 1m18.218 95 laps
02. Paul di Resta Force India 1m19.003 + 0.785 95 laps
03. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1m19.134 + 0.916 83 laps
04. Mark Webber Red Bull 1m19.338 + 1.120 101 laps
05. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1m19.502 + 1.284 99 laps
06. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m19.519 + 1.301 15 laps
07. Sergio Perez McLaren 1m19.572 + 1.354 81 laps
08. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m19.914 + 1.696 78 laps
09. Pastor Maldonado Williams 1m20.693 + 2.475 71 laps
10. James Rossiter Force India 1m21.273 + 3.055 19 laps
11. Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1m21.311 + 3.093 88 laps
12. Luiz Razia Marussia 1m23.537 + 5.319 31 laps

Related Links
The pictures from Day Two at Jerez

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