Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time on the second day of the opening pre-season test at a bitterly cold Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Tuesday.
With unseasonably cold weather affecting much of Western Europe, air temperature peaked at 4°c, while the track temperature reached only 12°c, remaining in single digits for the bulk of the day.
Freezing temperatures early in the morning limited running, and as a result the session continued through the planned lunch break, in order to make up for lost time.
Valtteri Bottas led the way at the halfway mark but he was eclipsed by Vettel, who recovered from a gravelly excursion through Turn 2 to head the timing screens, and also topped the lap chart, with 98.
Vettel’s brief off caused the session to be halted for a couple of minutes while marshals swept away the gravel which had been dragged onto the exit of Turn 2.
Vettel’s best of 1:19.673, achieved on Softs, was 0.303s faster than Bottas’ quickest effort, set on Mediums, as the Finn improved on his morning time.
McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne was third, his fastest lap having been registered on Pirelli’s new-for-2018 Hypersofts, as he edged Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by just 0.001s.
Verstappen’s running was restricted in the morning session on account of a fuel leak, though he made amends later in the day, as he added mileage to the RB14.
Renault’s Carlos Sainz Jr. was fifth, as he conducted the full day for Renault, while Pierre Gasly built on Toro Rosso-Honda’s encouraging start by finishing sixth, completing 76 laps in the STR13.
Williams split running between Robert Kubica and Sergey Sirotkin, the pair finshing seventh and eighth, in front of Force India’s Esteban Ocon.
Sauber’s Charles Leclerc caused a red flag when he spun through the gravel at Turn 4, but returned to action after a couple of hours, as he amassed over 80 laps in the C37.
Haas’ Kevin Magnussen finished at the foot of the times and the mileage charts, just over three seconds down on leader Vettel.
Cold temperatures and occasional light snow during the final 90 minutes again resulted in limited running, in a near-repeat of the morning situation.
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Tyre | Laps |
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:19.673 |  |
98 | |
| 2 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:19.976 | 0.303 |  |
94 |
| 3 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren | 1:20.325 | 0.652 |  |
37 |
| 4 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:20.326 | 0.653 | |
67 |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz | Renault | 1:21.212 | 1.539 | |
65 |
| 6 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso | 1:21.318 | 1.645 | |
82 |
| 7 | Robert Kubica | Williams | 1:21.495 | 1.822 | |
48 |
| 8 | Sergey Sirotkin | Williams | 1:21.822 | 2.149 | |
52 |
| 9 | Esteban Ocon | Force India | 1:21.841 | 2.168 | |
79 |
| 10 | Charles Leclerc | Sauber | 1:22.721 | 3.048 | |
81 |
| 11 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1:22.727 | 3.054 | |
36 |
