Maldonado tops day one in Barcelona

Pastor Maldonado has topped the timesheets on day one of the second pre-season test in Barcelona today.

The Lotus driver set a 1:25.011 on soft tyres, just 0.156s faster than Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, who once again underlined their impressive pre-season pace. Raikkonen didn't run at all on the soft tyres, which sent out another strong message to the rest of the paddock.

Daniel Ricciardo was third for Red Bull, who continued to use their strange silver livery, which is being utilised to hide their intricate design.

However, world champions Mercedes suffered problems as Lewis Hamilton completed just 11 laps before stopping with an illness, while Nico Rosberg has a damaged neck.

McLaren suffered an even worse day, as they were forced to abandon their running to due a faulty seal on their Honda engine.

A new part won’t reach Spain until Saturday, which is likely to severely hinder their running tomorrow.

Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen completed the most laps, 95, just ahead of Williams’ Susie Wolff, although she crashed with Felipe Nasr in the afternoon.

Both drivers spiralled into the gravel trap but returned later on to complete some more laps.

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