The tantalising prospect of McLaren opening up a clear advantage over its rivals through improved straight-line speed came a little closer today after Lewis Hamilton set the pace for the second day running during Hockenheim testing.
He was the only driver to break the 1:15 barrier in a session that saw Nico Rosberg, often a strong performer in testing, put his Williams in the second slot on 1:15.257 in conditions that were considerably better than the previous day’s rain and gusting winds.
Third was Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen on 1:15.296 and fourth was David Coulthard who produced a 1:15.767 fastest lap while working on tyre compounds – on a day in which 12 drivers took to the track, including both Red Bull and both Toro Rosso pilots.
Honda’s Jenson Button was not among them but Honda colleague Rubens Barrichello was in ninth place with a fastest lap of 1:16.144.
All the teams were working on tyre compound testing, mechanical and aero development plus perfection of their race setup for the forthcoming German Grand Prix, due to take place at this track next weekend.
Day two timesheet:
- Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 1:14.872 (101 laps)
- Nico Rosberg, Williams, 1:15.257 (117 laps)
- Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:15.296 (90 laps)
- David Coulthard, Red Bull, 1:15.767 (42 laps)
- Adrian Sutil, Force India, 1:15.945 (97 laps)
- Sebastian Vettel, Toro Rosso, 1:15.955 (56 laps)
- Timo Glock, Toyota, 1:15.995 (107 laps)
- Fernando Alonso, Renault, 1:16.141 (106 laps)
- Rubens Barrichello, Honda, 1:16.144 (83 laps)
- Mark Webber, Red Bull, 1:16.217 (63 laps)
- Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 1:16.235 (115 laps)
- Sebastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso, 1:16.550 (36 laps)