Ricciardo fastest on morning of Day 2 in Barcelona, as Perez brings out first red flag

McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo set the fastest time on the morning of Day 2 in Barcelona, the Australian having enjoyed more than 60 laps on his way to the top of the timesheets. The session was, however, red-flagged with around 30 minutes to go when Sergio Perez's Red Bull stopped on track.

Ricciardo made his 2022 pre-season debut in Spain after team mate Lando Norris set the benchmark on Day 1. This morning the Australian set a time of 1m 20.355s with 10 minutes remaining, eclipsing Carlos Sainz's existing benchmark by two-tenths of a second. Sainz tallied the most laps (70) and ended up in P2.

READ MORE: 5 things we learned from Day 1 of pre-season running in Barcelona

Perez (P8) brought out the first red flag, having coasted to a halt at Turn 13 half an hour before the lunch break. The stoppage was lifted with 15 minutes left, but Perez did not re-emerge to complete the morning.

He will however return for the afternoon’s running, as reigning champion and Red Bull team mate Max Verstappen drove on Day 1 – the team having flown in new parts overnight, including a floor.

AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly was third fastest and two-tenths behind Sainz, enjoying more than 50 laps, while Alex Albon took P4 for Williams – finishing over a second down on the top time.

Fifth-place driver Lance Stroll also managed a half-century’s worth of laps for Aston Martin, while Mick Schumacher had a far more productive day after reliability troubles curtailed Haas’s opening foray on Wednesday, the German clocking up over 50 laps on his way to P6.

Valtteri Bottas completed just 16 laps for Alfa Romeo – having also called yesterday’s running “compromised” due to reliability issues, and finished seventh.

READ MORE: Zhou ‘proud’ as he prepares to make pre-season running debut with Alfa Romeo

Lewis Hamilton did not return to the track after Perez's red flag and finished ninth for Mercedes, just behind the Red Bull driver.

Esteban Ocon stepped into the new Alpine for the first time in Spain, taking over from Wednesday runner Fernando Alonso. The Frenchman rounded out the standings in P10, just under three seconds away from Sainz. The team suffered what was suspected to be a DRS issue.

This afternoon will see Zhou Guanyu make his debut in the Alfa Romeo, while the likes of George Russell and Charles Leclerc step in for the rest of the second day in Spain. Follow live coverage here and head here to see the full driver line-up for Day 2.