Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/792945
21 FERRARI driver Kimi Räikkönen posted the quickest time on the second day of pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Cat- alunya, marginally ahead of Mer- cedes rival and morning pace-set- ter Lewis Hamilton. Räikkönen clocked a 1:20.960 on the Soft compound tyre shortly after the lunch break to eclipse Hamilton, who had used Super Softs, by two hundredths of a sec- ond. Räikkönen's effort is the fast- est of the test so far, following on from yesterday's initial 1m21.7s benchmark, with times steadily dropping under Formula 1's new technical era. Hamilton held on to second, as new team-mate Valtteri Bottas took over the wheel of the W08, as part of Mercedes' pre-planned split schedule for each day. Behind the top two, there was a sizeable gap back to the rest of the field. Red Bull's Max Verstappen (Softs) took third, over a second adrift of Räikkönen, followed by Haas' Kevin Magnussen and Force India's Esteban Ocon, both on Super Softs. Magnussen made up for set- backs throughout Monday's run- ning to top the mileage charts (116 laps), with Räikkönen and Bottas the other drivers to hit the 100-lap milestone. Mercedes collectively hit 168 laps, over two-and-a-half race dis- tances. Bottas spent the afternoon working through a race simula- tion, which involved multiple pit-stops, and ended up seventh on the times, just behind Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat. It was not all plain sailing for the Mercedes arrival, though, as he lost control through Campsa, be- fore sliding back across the track and swiping the inside wall. Renault's Jolyon Palmer missed most of the morning, as a brake duct part was flown in and re- placed on the RS17, but completed 50 laps in the afternoon en-route to eighth. Ferrari reserve driver Antonio Giovinazzi made his full F1 test debut with Sauber, in place of Pascal Wehrlein, who is skip- ping the test on medical grounds after his Race of Champions crash. Giovinazzi lost out early on, with Sauber forced to carry out a power unit change, though came close to a race distance in the afternoon, brushing off a minor spin. McLaren-Honda's testing woes continued as, after a handful of exploratory laps, mechanics were forced to carry out another power unit change. Stoffel Vandoorne headed back out midway through the afternoon session, completing 40 laps, but his best time was al- most five seconds down on Räik- könen's. Williams did not run in the af- ternoon, after Lance Stroll's off- track excursion at Turn 9, which caused damage to a winglet on the front wing, with spares hav- ing to be f lown in. Stroll drifted wide before his car snapped left, sending him through the gravel trap on the exit of the corner, though he was able to recover and return to the pits. Sport FORMULA 1 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 1 MARCH 2017 Räikkönen fastest for Ferrari on day two MCLARENHONDA faced further technical problems on the second day of pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with another power unit change re- quired. Fernando Alonso was restricted to just one lap on Monday morn- ing, with an oil systems issue, and only added 28 more "checking laps" in the afternoon, with a new power unit fitted. Stoffel Vandoorne took to the wheel of the MCL32 on Tuesday morning and matched Alonso's mileage haul, but further gremlins forced McLaren-Honda to change the power unit again. Mechanics are working to re-fit the unit used yesterday, which was worked on overnight, in the hope of sending Vandoorne back out for some more running in the after- noon. "We lost power to the power unit," a Honda spokesperson told GPUpdate.net. "At the moment we don't know what has caused the issue. We are currently changing the power unit in order to investigate fully and identify the cause. "We are switch- ing back to yesterday's PU, which was worked on overnight." As of Tuesday's lunch break, McLaren-Honda's lap tally stood at 58 laps, eight away from a full race distance, which Lewis Hamilton racked up alone in this morning's session. More testing trouble for McLaren-Honda Dennis takes up advisory role at MoD FORMER McLaren boss Ron Dennis has taken up a new advi- sory role with Britain's Ministry of Defence. Dennis held a leading role with- in McLaren for 35 years but was ousted towards the end of 2016, with Zak Brown arriving as the team's new Executive Chairman. Dennis has now joined the newly-created Defence Innova- tion Advisory Panel, "which aims to encourage imagination, inge- nuity and entrepreneurship, in pursuit of maintaining a military advantage in the future". "There can be nothing more important than our national se- curity," said Dennis. "I'm enthusiastic to be among the first of those named to this world-class panel, who have joined MOD to spearhead their efforts to innovate across the or- ganisation, from technology to culture. "[It] challenges the status quo, staying ahead of the curve through change and innovation." Dennis also plans to launch a new technology investment fund in 2017.