Preseason testing continued over at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain, and Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 continued to stress-test the car it’s going to compete with for the 2013 Formula One season. Lewis Hamilton took over from Nico Rosberg in day 2, and he managed to complete 121 laps over a distance of 563 kilometers in the new F1 W04.
The morning run was done mostly on the hard compound tires, with some focus put into comparing exhaust configurations. Hamilton then ran on medium compound tires for most of the afternoon.
“We had a good day today and it was nice to get so many laps in,” Hamilton said. “We’re making continual steps forward in terms of our understanding of the set-up and the tyres.”
He specifically cited the work done with the hard compound tires, allowing him to notch his best time for the day right before the lunch break. His 1:22.726 was good enough for the fourth-best time of the day, trailing Sergio Perez, defending champion Sebastian Vettel, and Kimi Raikkonen.
Nico Rosberg will be back in the cockpit of the F1 W04 for day 3 of Barcelona preseason testing.
