Rosberg completes 172 laps for Mercedes in Day 2 of Barcelona testing
Ryan Joseph Ramos February 23, 2016Nico Rosberg got his turn on the Mercedes-Benz F1 W07 Hybrid for day 2 of Barcelona Test One, with a whopping 172 laps in total for the entire day. Rosberg ran a total of 801 km, a record in the V6 era of Formula One in what was a self-described “F1 Marathon”.
Rosberg ran 81 laps prior to the lunch break, and proceeded to run 91 more in the afternoon.
His fastest lap time, 1:24.867 set while running on the mediums, was good for only fourth-best on the day, however.
Sebastian Vettel topped the fastest times in his new Ferrari, going 1:22.810 in ultra softs. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo came in second at a relatively distant 1:23.525, also in the ultra soft tyres. Sergio Perez took his Force India to the third-fastest time 1:23:650 in super softs, a time that’s still a second better than Rosberg’s fastest.
Still, the first sessions of preseason testing is not about speed. It’s about checking to see where the car is at, and so far, the W07 Hybrid is looking like a stable performer.
“It’s great to see that we are already able to do a lot of mileage – and we didn’t have a single problem either, which is really incredible,” said Rosberg. He added that it was important that he felt ‘very comfortable’ already in the new Mercedes car.
All in all, cars powered by the Mercedes-Benz power unit completed 2,225 km at the Circuit de Catalunya, including Perez’s 101 laps in the VJM09 and Rosberg’s 172.
For Day 3, Lewis Hamilton will be back in the saddle of the Mercedes-Benz F1 W07 Hybrid.
