Charles Leclerc continued his excellent start to the 2022 campaign with the fastest overall time as the second day of testing drew to a close.

Ferrari, who go into the season as a championship contender, showcased their speed on the medium C3 compound of tyre with Leclerc’s 1:19.689 over two tenths faster than Pierre Gasly on the softer C4 compound with Daniel Ricciardo, who was the fastest man in the morning session, finishing third quickest overall.

The second day of testing saw two red flags as Sergio Perez stopped out on track with gearbox issues whilst Nikita Mazepin had his session interpreted after suffering fuel pump issues.

Morning Session

Four drivers would finally get their chance to test their new 2022 machines, with Perez, Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon getting a full day of running under their belts after spending the opening day of testing in the garages. 

Alfa Romeo’s Guanyu Zhou would also get some laps under his belt as he shared the C42 with teammate Valtteri Bottas who drove the morning session before handing over the reins to Zhou for the afternoon.

The opening 10 minutes of the session saw very little running as all seven cars that ventured out on track started their day’s running with aero sensor rake tests on both the front and rear axles, which meant that a minuscule amount of laps were completed, with Lewis Hamilton leading the way after setting a pedestrian 1:28.799 on the C3 compound. 

Ocon bettered the Brit’s time shortly afterwards with a 1:24.231 on the harder C2 compound, with Lance Stroll also completing some of his early running on the C2s, with the Canadian posting a time of 1:22.916.

Bottas’s second day of testing got off to a dreadful start as his Alfa Romeo developed cooling issues on the installation laps, forcing him to remain in the garage. The team had even flown new parts overnight from Switzerland so that they could run the C42 with a lower ride height after suffering from severe prospering on day 1.

Carlos Sainz made full use of an empty track and the quicker C3 compound of tyre to knock Stroll off the top of the timesheets, as the Spaniard managed a 1:20.890 that was over a second and a half faster than Stroll’s and Ricciardo’s best times.

Alex Albon was quickly on the pace in the session’s opening stages as the ex-Red Bull reserve managed a 1:21.657 on the C3s to go second quickest.

After just over an hour, Perez finally set his first timed lap, with the Mexican setting a banker of 1:25.860 before improving on his next timed lap with a 1:23.320 on the C2 compound. 

Mick Schumacher managed to get some time behind the wheel of the innovative Haas VF-22 after having his miles cut yesterday due to technical gremlins and as well as his engine cover going airborne on the main straight. But the German had a much smoother second day of running, completing 53 laps and achieving a time of 1:21.949.

Bottas did get some laps under his belt after a late start, but the Finn struggled for pace as he could only manage a 1:22.335 in what was turning out to be yet another challenging session for the Hinwil based team.

Williams also suffered from teething troubles as Albon was kept in the garage for some time as the team fixed a pump issue; however, the problem was a minor one, and the Thai driver got back on track with just under an hour left in the morning session.

Ricciardo pipped Gasly for second in the timesheets with a 1:20.948 on the C3 tyres, but just as it seemed that the Australian would topple Sainz, the red flag was brought out after Perez’s car stopped at Turn 13 with a gearbox issue.

Shortly after the red flag period had ended, Ricciardo went to the front as the Australian set a time of 1:20.355, just under two tenths quicker than Sainz and good enough for the fastest time of the opening session whilst Gasly finished the morning session in third after posting a 1:20.764.

Albon was fourth fastest ahead of Stroll, the quickest of the C2 runners, with Schumacher giving Haas something to cheer about after a gloomy opening day with the sixth-fastest time.

Bottas managed seventh ahead of Perez, who had his session cut short with Hamilton and Ocon bringing up the tail of the field.

Afternoon session

After a wait of an hour and 13 minutes, the teams got back out on track with Sebastian Vettel and Gasly, the first two drivers, to leave the pits in order to begin their afternoon’s work.

Zhou left the pits six minutes later to begin his testing programme with the Chinese rookie setting an early banker time of 1:25.942 before slashing over one and a half seconds off his personal best with a time of 1:24.578. 

Nicholas Latifi got his session off to a good start, with his first run being good enough for seventh before the Toronto native shaved just under two tenths off his lap time to move up to fifth.

Leclerc opened his account with a pedestrian 1:23.565 on the ultra-hard C1 compound, but despite using the hardest of Pirelli’s five compounds of tyres, he went four-tenths quicker on his next fast lap, and after switching to the C3 compound, the Monegasque set a time of 1:19.804 becoming the first driver in today’s session to break into the 1:19s.

Amidst deep uncertainty that his Formula 1 future could be under threat, Mazepin took over the driving duties from Schumacher in the Haas, posting a 1:25.514 on the C2 tyres. Still, he was over a second down on Vettel, also on the C2 compound.

To make matters worse for Mazepin, he suffered a fuel pump problem after only completing nine laps forcing the red flag to come out for the second time as the stricken Haas was returned to the garage.

After a short pause, the session resumed with two hours and 20 minutes left to go on the clock, with the session restarting without Mazepin as his Haas remained in the garage as his fuel pump was hastily repaired. However, Mazepin did repay his mechanics’ hard work by going over three seconds quicker on a set of the C3 tyres. 

Ocon, meanwhile, was having a very productive day, completing over a century of laps on the C2 tyres. Gasly also completed over a century of laps as he managed 104 tours on the C3 compound.

But whilst the two Frenchman were managing over 100 laps each, the situation remained grim at Red Bull, as Perez remained in the garage for over four hours as a result of his gearbox issue in the morning.

However, just as it seemed that things couldn’t get any worse, the Mexican’s gearbox woes reappeared after he attempted a practice start.

Gasly’s day got even better as he moved up to second with a 1:20.030 after switching to the faster C4 compound. Leclerc then responded to the Frenchman’s sudden burst of pace by cutting a tenth off his personal best, indicating that Ferrari’s rapid pace was no fluke.

But nor was AlphaTauri’s as Gasly managed to finally break into the 1:19s with a 1:19.918 after putting on a fresh set of C4s.

Perez finally managed to get a representative time on the board with just under 20 minutes left in the session, as he set a 1:21.430 on the C2 compound of tyre, which was good enough for the seventh-fastest overall time.

But no one could trouble the top three, with Leclerc fastest ahead of Gasly and Ricciardo with Russell fourth after setting a 1:20.537 in the session’s closing stages. 

Sainz was fifth fastest ahead of Vettel, Perez and Mazepin, with Albon and Zhou completing the top 10.