BARCELONA, Spain -- Max Verstappen picked up where he left off at the Spanish Grand Prix by finishing top of the pile on Barcelona's second and final in-season test day.
Verstappen recorded a memorable maiden victory at the Circuit de Catalunya on Sunday, making him F1's youngest ever winner at 18 years old. The Dutch teenager was back in action for Red Bull on Wednesday and topped the session with a 1:23.267 as Red Bull continued to put Renault's new engine upgrade through its paces. Verstappen's time was set late in the morning on the soft tyre. It was two tenths slower than his qualifying effort on Saturday, showing what impact the differences in track and weather conditions can have on headline times.
The Dutch driver said afterwards: "Very good. I enjoyed it again today. The car is very good to drive, very enjoyable. So again very good mileage again today.
Speaking about Renault's new power unit, he said: "I think it is positive. I think mainly today we just wanted to check the numbers and the reliability and it was all good. We didn't have any problems so we could run the whole day. For me to get even more used to the car, now I think it was a good day for me to try new things on the steering wheel and it worked perfectly."
Stoffel Vandoorne finished second for McLaren, although his lap was set on the super-soft tyre and 0.739s off the pace of Verstappen's soft tyre time. McLaren was focused on aero work in the morning and unlikely to have been looking for raw performance with its highly-rated development driver, who continues to push for a 2017 race seat. Vandoorne managed to finish the day with an impressive 105 laps to his name.
Manor driver Pascal Wehrlein, who tested for his regular team on Tuesday, finished third after a late replacement saw him test for Mercedes instead of Esteban Ocon, who had tested for Renault on Tuesday. Mercedes reasoning was that it wanted an experienced driver behind the wheel to continue the work started by Nico Rosberg during Tuesday's running, but it means Lewis Hamilton will not be able to take part at the Silverstone test later this year as each team must set aside two of the four days to young drivers. It is unlikely to be a big setback for Hamilton, who did no in-season tests last season but went on to win the championship. Wehrlein finished the day third quickest, eight tenths off the lead.
Esteban Gutierrez finished fourth for Haas with a time on the super-soft tyre leaving him 1.3s off the pace. Gutierrez ran on the ultra-soft tyre in the closing minutes of the session but did not improve on his 1:24.592, demonstrating how unsuited Pirelli's softest compound is to the Circuit de Catalunya. The purple-striped tyre is set to be a popular choice at the next grand prix when it debuts in Monte Carlo.
Ferrari junior Antonio Fuoco finished the day fifth, 1.4s off the pace with a soft tyre lap in the closing five minutes. The young Italian had a small fan club unfurl a Ferrari flag opposite the team's garage and they remained in good voice throughout the day. Daniil Kvyat finshed sixth, triggering a red flag in the afternoon with a stoppage at Turn 5, but still managed to complete a healthy 116 laps for Toro Rosso. Force India development driver Alfonso Celis finished in seventh with a late lap on the super-soft tyre which moved him to within 1.7s of Verstappen's lead time. The Mexican driver has been chipping away at his best times all weekend
Kevin Magnussen finished eighth for Renault, but confirmed to the media at lunch time he was not pushing the car as the team tested its new specification of power unit. He finished 1.8s off the pace but added 122 laps onto the new engine, invaluable reliability running for Renault as it weighs up whether to introduce the new spec in Monaco or as scheduled in Canada.
Felipe Massa and Manor development driver Jordan King rounded off the timing screens and were the only two drivers not to complete more than 100 laps. Massa continued Williams' work with its radical front and rear wings in the morning but finished 3.9s off the pace. King had an off in the morning at Turn 7 which prompted a the other red flag of the day so the marshals could clear gravel off the track, though it is unclear whether that had any impact on the rest of his day as he continued to complete 91 laps.
Times at close:
1. Max Verstappen - Red Bull - 1:23.267 - 118laps
2. Stoffel Vandoorne - McLaren - 1:24.006 - 108 laps
3. Pascal Wehrlein - Mercedes - 1:24.145 - 133 laps
4. Esteban Gutierrez - Haas - 1:24.592 - 105 laps
5. Antonio Fuoco - Ferrari - 1:24.720 - 118 laps
6. Daniil Kvyat - Toro Rosso - 1:24.737 - 116 laps
7. Alfonso Celis - Force India - 1:25.016 - 103 laps
8. Kevin Magnussen - Renault - 1:25.133 - 122 laps
9. Felipe Massa - Williams - 1:27.167 - 94 laps
10. Jordan King - Manor - 1:27.615 - 91 laps