Vettel sets the pace again in 2nd day of f1 preseason tests

Vettel’s fastest lap was set on the new Ultrasoft compound introduced for 2016 by Pirelli, with the four time Champion recording a 1:22.810, two seconds quicker than Rosberg who used the slower, Medium compound tyre to set his best lap of the day.

Sergio Perez was third quickest for Force India after leaping ahead of Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg with an impressive run on the supersoft tyres in the afternoon session, but Rosberg could satisfy himself with being the day’s overwhelming lap leader.

The 2016 F1 season burst into life as 10 new cars to the track at Barcelona today, with just Sauber still running last year’s model.

The German topped the first morning with a lap of one minute and 24.939secs – five-tenths of a second quicker than Hamilton and potentially reigniting the Scuderia’s battle with Mercedes early, according to Crash.net.

Hamilton and teammate Nico Rosberg are likely to face a stiffer challenge from Vettel this season, with the former world champion entering his second season with Ferrari.

The first day of tests – almost three months after the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2015 – started on a damp track and under overcast skies, with most teams spending time running installation laps to check for possible problems.

The team hope for a significant improvement after a hard 2015 season with the new Honda engine, which was both uncompetitive and unreliable.

But while the opening two days of testing appear to have proved the team’s reliability has improved, questions remain over its competitiveness after Alonso finished only ninth, three seconds off Ferrari. “We put in a phenomenal effort through a year ago”, said Red Bull chief engineer Paul Monoghan.

Debutants Haas sent out Romain Grosjean on their first official F1 appearance but suffered a blow when their auto lost part of the front wing on the home straight, causing a red flag.

“I’m not taking a huge amount from those races”, he said. They’ve been working very hard so naturally it is a bit better.

However, it’s the British driver’s performance that is being marked out as the real deal after he managed more than 100 laps with a few hours to go.

“Obviously, (there are) other weaknesses with the auto (that) we still need to improve, but it was a good day, and I’m reasonably happy”. Naturally we want more. “I know what we give the European Union, but not what it gives us back”, said Ecclestone.

“At some point something will break but for now nothing is broken so we need to keep on going with laps and see where the weak points are”.

“When you hear “F1″ you know exactly what it is – a global racing series that showcases the latest technology and attracts the best talent in engineering and design”, he said.

“The progress so far is positive”, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said.