Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher drove the absolute best time on the second day of testing at Jerez in the interim-Mercedes. Second, and thus the fastest of all the 2012 cars was Red Bull driver Mark Webber, followed by Daniel Ricciardo in the Toro Rosso STR7. Jules Bianchi (Sahara Force India) was a surprise guest in position four.
The desired 16 degrees-air temperature wasn’t present at the “Circuito de Jerez” today. This did not stop Schumacher, as he completed his fastest lap in only 1:18.561 minutes on the harder Pirelli tire compound. However, he still drove the old Mercedes around the track, which doesn’t comply with the new regulations.
The RB8 driven by Mark Webber was the fastest of the new 2012 cars ©Lukas Gorys
Lined up behind Schumacher was Mark Webber, the fastest driver piloting one of the 2012 cars. At the end of the day, Webber was 0.623 seconds behind the Mercedes. Daniel Ricciardo completed the top three. However, the Toro Rosso driver had more than a second between him and the leader by the end of the session.
Sahara Force India test and reserve driver Jules Bianchi took part in the entire day’s testing, which was not expected. Still, Bianchi secured fourth place on the sheets ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, who was fastest the previous day in the Lotus.
Behind the Finn came Paul di Resta (Sahara Force India), who took over for Jules Bianchi after lunch in sixth. Felipe Massa drove the Ferrari to seventh, followed by Jenson Button in his McLaren Mercedes. Sergio Perez (Sauber), Pastor Maldonardo (Williams), Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham) and Pedro de la Rosa (HRT) completed the the line-up for the second day of testing at Jerez. The hardest working driver was Heikki Kovalainen with a total of 138 laps.
Almost every team was now working on fuel simulations as well as tire testing. On Thursday, the reigning Formula 1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel will take to the track for the first time. In addition to Vettel, Nico Hülkenberg, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso are planned to drive.
The unofficial lap times:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
| 1 | Schumacher | Mercedes | 1m18.561s | 132 |
| 2 | Webber | Red Bull | 1m19.184s +0.623 | 97 |
| 3 | Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 1m19.587s +1.026 | 100 |
| 4 | Bianchi | Force India | 1m20.221s +1.660 | 46 |
| 5 | Raikkonen | Lotus | 1m20.239s +1.678 | 117 |
| 6 | Di Resta | Force India | 1m20.272s +1.711 | 69 |
| 7 | Massa | Ferrari | 1m20.454s +1.893 | 95 |
| 8 | Button | McLaren | 1m20.688s +2.127 | 85 |
| 9 | Perez | Sauber | 1m20.711s +2.150 | 68 |
| 10 | Maldonado | Williams | 1m21.197s +2.636 | 97 |
| 11 | Kovalainen | Caterham | 1m21.518s +2.957 | 139 |
| 12 | De la Rosa | HRT | 1m22.128s +3.567 | 64 |
Click here for the full image gallery of the second day of testing in Jerez
