Button quickest as Renault-powered teams suffer

McLaren's Jenson Button topped the timesheets in Jerez today, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, but the second of day of pre-season testing was defined by problems for Renault-powered teams.

While Mercedes-powered teams logged 212 laps today and Ferrari-powered cars put in 100 tours of the Spanish circuit, Red Bull Racing, Caterham and Toro Rosso, which all use Renault's Energy F1-2014 power unit, completed just 19 laps today.

Sebastian Vettel managed just eight laps in his RB10 before the team called a halt to proceedinga citing a problem with the car's energy store. Toro Rosso fared even worse, with rookie Daniil Kvyat stranded in the garage all day due to "electrical problems" with his STR9.

“It’s obviously not ideal, but it’s better to take the time to get to the root of the issue, so the decision to stop early today is probably a good one,” said Red Bull Race Engineering Director Andy Damerum.

“We cured the issue we had yesterday and ran that reliably this morning and it will be the same process this evening. It’s a massive learning curve for everyone and it’s simply a case of working through it step by step.”

It was a similar situation for Caterham, where Marcus Ericsson's CT05 succumbed to an electrical issue in the final hour of the day. He'd managed just 11 laps.

In contrast, Ferrari and Mercedes-powered  teams enjoyed a relatively trouble free day. After yesterday's front-wing failure for Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W05 ran faultlessly and completed ninety-seven laps, including two 20-lap+ stints. It will come as welcoming news to Mercedes, who had all four of its customers in the top five at the close of play.

For Ferrari, who topped the times yesterday, it was another productive day. Raikkonen finished his day's work with 47 laps on the board and a time of 1:24.812, just over six tenths down on quickest man Button.

The day began in wet conditions following an overnight shower in Southern Spain, which led to a decision to bring the dedicated wet-tyre testing session planned for Friday forward to today.

Jerez Pre-season Test, Day Two

1. Jenson Button McLaren 1min 24.165secs

2. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1min 24.812secs

3. Valtteri Bottas Williams 1min 25.344secs

4. Nico Rosberg Germany 1min 25.588secs

5. Sergio Perez Mexico 1min 28.376secs

6. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1min 33.270secs

7. Marcus Ericsson Caterham 1min 37.975secs