Lando Norris set the fastest lap of F1 testing thus far in the morning of Day 2 as Lewis Hamilton only completed five laps.
Norris and Max Verstappen, in the Red Bull for the first time in the test, initially traded fastest laps before the reigning world champion posted a 1:33.453 within the first hour of the four-hour session.
That eclipsed George Russell’s attempt on the opening day of a 1:33.469 to stand as the fastest lap of testing as Verstappen slotted his Red Bull into second place, 0.131s behind, before the pair attempted longer runs throughout the remainder of the session. Norris is set to hand over to Oscar Piastri for the afternoon, whilst Verstappen enjoys the full day.
Russell himself placed third for Mercedes with a session-high XX laps, as the W17 also completed pit-stop practice towards the close of the session, and was the last driver within one second of Norris’s benchmark.
Alex Albon (Williams), Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi), Oliver Bearman (Haas), Franco Colapinto (Alpine), Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls), and Fernando Alonso also all got good running in, as did Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas after a slow start due to sensor issues.
However, Hamilton was limited to just five laps, all in the first few minutes, before a problem developed on the Ferrari.
RacingNews365 understands that the issue affecting the Ferrari is not power unit-related, but the SF-26 did not emerge again for over three hours, limiting Hamilton to a handful of laps.
He did come out again in the final minutes to be on track for the FIA’s race start simulation tests.
However, during the brief running he did achieve, a new rear-wing upgrade on the Ferrari caught the eye, with it being effectively ‘upside down.’
