Grosjean on top in Jerez, Hamilton takes a ride into the barriers

With a time of 1:18.218, Romain Grosjean placed his Lotus on top of the unofficial timesheets on the second day of the first Formula One preseason testing at Jerez. The Frenchman also sat the fastest lap in the morning session.

Lewis Hamilton went for a ride in the Mercedes works team’s new F1 W04, and ended up in the tyre barriers due to a loss of rear brake pressure. Nico Rosberg was in the new car yesterday and was sidelined in garage after only 14 laps. Still the speed has been proven as Hamilton was sixth fastest with only 15 laps completed.

Hamilton commented: “These things happen and it's all part of testing. Of course, it's better that we get these small issues out of the way sooner rather than later, and the guys are working really hard to overcome them.”

Not only did Grosjean take today’s fast lap, he also put down a total of 95 laps on team’s E21. That is good news for the Lotus-Renault team especially compared to the 29 laps across two days for the Mercedes AMG.

“It was good today; the programme went to plan and we showed we have good reliability,” said Grosjean. “For me, the whole test has gone well which bodes well for the year ahead. My feeling in the car is good and it was great to be at the top of the times. Even if it doesn’t mean anything during testing, it’s still good to be at the front.”

Unofficial times