IDLIB, February 28 -- Terrorists of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (terror group) pose a threat to Syria’s stability by conducting events for building up their offensive potential. "A threat to security and stability in Syria is coming from terrorists of the Nusra-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham alliance, which controls almost the entire Idlib de-escalation zone. Field commanders are carrying out events on reshaping allied groups with the goals of increasing their offensive capabilities in the directions of Aleppo, Hama and mountainous Latakia," the diplomat stressed. "The militants plan to expand the sphere of their influence and establish full control of Idlib." It's also noted a growing number of ceasefire violations. "Only over the past four days nearly 40 such cases have been recorded, when people died or were wounded," she said. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres drew attention to the deplorable situation in the Idlib de-escalation zone in his recent report on the humanitarian situation in Syria. Besides concerns over the growing activity of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the report details atrocities of terrorists against civilians, including suppressing ethnic and religious minorities, illegal detentions of civilians and cases when people have gone missing, she noted.
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BARCELONA, February 28 -- Current lap time results [12pm] from the second Formula 1 pre-season test at Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona. 1. Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow SF90 1m 16.231s 69 laps 2. Alexander Albon THA Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda STR14 1m 16.882s 83 laps 3. Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team MCL34 1m 17.084s 72 laps 4. Pierre Gasly FRA Aston Martin Red Bull Racing Honda RB15 1m 17.091s 55 laps 5. Nico Hulkenberg GER Renault F1 Team R.S.19 1m 17.496s 73 laps* 6. Lance Stroll CAN SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team RP19 1m 17.556s 65 laps 7. Antonio Giovinazzi ITA Alfa Romeo Racing C38 1m 17.639s 50 laps 8. Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport W10 1m 18.097s 85 laps* 9. George Russell GBR ROKiT Williams Racing FW42 1m 18.130s 67 laps 10. Kevin Magnussen DEN Rich Energy Haas F1 Team VF-19 1m 18.199s 53 laps 11. Daniel Ricciardo AUS Renault F1 Team R.S.19 1m 19.759s 11 laps** 12. Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport W10 1m 22.150s 38 laps** *Morning session **Afternoon session NEW DELHI, February 28 -- India heavily responded to Pakistan’s ceasefire violation and attack on communities in the Jammu and Kashmir state on Thursday. The Indian artillery responded with fire to the attack that the Pakistani military launched at about 6:00 in the morning local time (3:30 Moscow time). The artillery shootout lasted about an hour. No injuries were reported. Tensions are running high along the contact line separating Kashmir’s Indian and Pakistani zones following a terrorist attack on an Indian military convoy in the Jammu and Kashmir state on February 14. Forty-five people were killed in the attack. Jaish-e-Mohammed (The Army of Muhammad) claimed responsibility for the attack. On Tuesday, India’s aviation bombed this group’s camp in the part of Kashmir controlled by Pakistan. On Wednesday, the Pakistan Air Force responded with air strikes on military installations in Jammu and Kashmir. New Delhi and Islamabad also stated that they downed each other’s plans in the air fight. BARCELONA, February 28 -- Current lap time results [12pm] from the second Formula 1 pre-season test at Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona. 1. Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team MCL34 1m 17.084s 45 laps 2. Pierre Gasly FRA Aston Martin Red Bull Racing Honda RB15 1m 17.091s 38 laps 3. Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow SF90 1m 17.253s 33 laps 4. Alexander Albon THA Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda STR14 1m 17.279s 49 laps 5. Nico Hulkenberg GER Renault F1 Team R.S.19 1m 17.496s 47 laps 6. Lance Stroll CAN SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team RP19 1m 17.556s 37 laps 7. Antonio Giovinazzi ITA Alfa Romeo Racing C38 1m 17.969s 43 laps 8. Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport W10 1m 18.097s 55 laps 9. Kevin Magnussen DEN Rich Energy Haas F1 Team VF-19 1m 18.199s 53 laps 10. George Russell GBR ROKiT Williams Racing FW42 1m 19.232s 31 laps "It is simply not sustainable to exchange every car on the road today with an electric car." ROTTERDAM, February 28 -- You might think the environment is helped by buying an electric or hybrid car. The CO2 law But the truth is that so much CO2 is released during the production of the batteries, that any savings will be nullified afterwards. That says the Swedish Environmental Research Institute, a government agency that has done research on the power source of electric cars. According to the authors of the report, the production of lithium-ion batteries for light electric vehicles produces on average 150-200 kilos of carbon dioxide equivalents per kilowatt-hour of battery. One of the smallest electric cars on the market, the Nissan Leaf, for example, already uses batteries of approximately 30 kWh. Many new models have batteries of 60 and 100 kWh. An electric car with a 100kWh battery has thus delivered 15-20 tons of carbon dioxide, even before the engine is switched on. In this calculation a 50-70 percent fossil share in the electricity mix is assumed. That is not the only environmental burden. Car batteries contain metals such as lithium, cobalt and nickel. Since the extraction of these metals is chemically intensive, it takes a lot of energy and damage to the environment of the extraction site. The authors of the report point to the need to supplement the consumption figures of vehicles currently in use with information on manufacturing, environmental impact and recycling options. Now only the low fuel figures are mentioned, so the false idea arises that the cars do not produce harmful substances. They also advocate certification of the battery makers. This is often still happening in countries such as China and India, where environmental impact is of secondary importance. By using more green power while making the batteries, a big step forward can be made. But producers have to indicate that well and honestly. The making of Batteries One recent study by scientists in Norway has found that in some circumstances electric cars can have a greater impact on global warming than conventional cars. Electric cars are only as green as the power that supplies them and, in many parts of the world, most electricity is still derived from fossil fuels. Guillaume Majeau-Bettez, one of the authors of the report from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, says he was shocked and disappointed by the study’s findings. "The electric car has great potential for improvement, but ultimately what will make it a success or failure from an environmental standpoint is how much we can clean up our electricity grid - both for the electricity you use when you drive your car, and for the electricity used for producing the car." Mining companies are positioning themselves to meet the increased need for raw materials that include lithium from Australia and Chile, cobalt from the Democratic Republic of Congo and nickel from Australia, Canada, Indonesia, Russia and the Philippines. Environmentalists are alarmed by the mines and smelters needed to supply the electric vehicle industry. The Philippines has closed or suspended 17 nickel mines this year because of environmental concerns. In Columbia, residents who live near the Cerro Matoso nickel mine, which spun-off from BHP Billiton in 2015, have reported elevated rates of birth deformities and respiratory problems associated with exposure to pollution generated by nickel mining and smelting. UBS estimates that the combined production of pure EVs and plug-in hybrid EVs will mean a 12-fold increase in battery power will be needed by 2025. This will boost global cobalt demand for plug-in vehicles at an average rate of around 20 per cent per annum for the next five years. Lithium demand is also set to rise by 16 per cent per year over the course of the next decade, quadrupling by 2025 to 750,000 tonnes. As a result, prices of key commodities associated with making batteries have exploded. While demand for the minerals is growing, concerns are accelerating over the environmental footprint of the vast processing plants that are required to turn rare earth elements into materials that are needed in electric vehicles. Many of these are in located China, where environmental standards are low and difficult to monitor. Most of the raw materials in an electric vehicle battery are used in the cathode, the electrode that provides electricity when the battery is discharging. “Processing lithium is not so much of a problem – because of where the materials are sourced from [Australia and Chile], " says David Merriman, the deputy division manager at the metals consultancy Roskill. "However, cobalt - which goes into the cathode in the battery - is causing a lot of concern. Much of it is produced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo so there are a lot of conflict mineral issues and child-labour issues. Downstream users are having to look at this closely.” Graphite, another rare earth used in lithium ion batteries, is mostly produced and consumed in China. Mr Merriman says there are also concerns over the way this rare earth is mined, although the industry is now seeing more non-Chinese mine operators starting up, which may help to raise standards. One of the problems with the surge in demand for metals for batteries is that increasingly the capacity for these minerals is coming from new and emerging mining companies, who may not have the same sustainability and responsibility standards as established miners. The International Centre for Metals and Mining, based in London, is a lobbying organisation for the world’s biggest miners and has companies such as BHP, AngloAmerican and Barrick Gold as members. Codelco, the world’s largest copper miner, which announced this nonth that it is to mine lithium in Chile, is another member. John Atherton, ICMM's director - health, safety and product stewardship, admits that there are problem areas in the world where rare metals are mined. “Regarding China, there are large areas where we don’t know what is going on and in other territories there are difficulties with governance and sometimes a clash between the approach of large-scale and small-scale miners.” However, he insists that members of organisations such as ICMM, which has a sustainability framework that its members must follow, do genuinely want to curb their environmental impact. “Our members do have the skills to minimise impact and the amount of innovation that is going on means that there is a constant improvement, both in company performance and in the management of environmental risk and social risk,” Mr Atherton says. He argues that an increasing dialogue between the downstream users of the metals – the car makers and battery manufacturers – means that new entrants into metals mining will be scrutinised and will need to prove themselves responsible, if they are to be part of an international supply chain. Areeba Hamid, a senior Greenpeace clean air campaigner, says: “More electric cars will increase demand for lithium and cobalt, but this doesn’t have to mean environmental damage or human rights abuses. Companies need to fully commit to and resource responsible supply chain oversight and policies to ensure they don’t mine in ecologically important, vulnerable areas or encroach on local people’s rights and livelihoods.” Greenpeace says efforts to reduce the price of EVs should focus on improving technology and economies of scale, not through the use of cheap labour or lower mining standards. Down the line, to offset the environmental impact of mining, there will also need to be a large build-out in recycling facilities to meet the first wave of electric vehicles, analysts say. Currently more than 90 per cent of lead-acid batteries used in conventional petrol-engine cars are recycled, versus less than 5 per cent of lithium-ion batteries. An estimated 11 million tonnes of spent lithium-ion battery packs will be discarded between now and 2030, according to Canada-based Li-Cycle, a recycler of batteries. Companies such as Belgium-based Umicore have already started to recycle lithium-ion batteries and are investing in expanding its capacity. Umicore expects huge volumes of spent batteries to start coming on to the market for recycling from around 2025. So are consumers kidding themselves that buying an electric vehicle is “good” for the environment? “There are two sides to the story: although emissions are better from an electric vehicle there is still an environmental impact at the mining and [power] generation stage," says Mr Merriman. "The good news is that that impact is improving.” And the picture will get better across Europe and in the US, as more electricity generation comes from renewable sources rather than fossil fuels. Nissan, which builds its first mass-market electric car the Leaf in the UK, says it monitors its supply chain carefully to assess whether the mineral resources contained in materials or components used to manufacture its products have any harmful social effects, such as on human rights or the environment. “When there are concerns about the minerals being used, Nissan actively works to end that use,” a spokesman says. Nissan is also working on battery recycling and has developed xStorage, which gives electric vehicle batteries a second life. The battery can be reused in homes and businesses as an energy storage unit, which the homeowner can control. Nissan’s efforts show that manufacturers are aware that they will have to work hard to make electric vehicles more desirable and greener, despite governments around the world giving them a helping hand. But it is Ms Hamid who explains why electric vehicles can only reduce, rather than eliminate, the impact on the environment. “To tackle both air pollution and climate change we will also need to drive less altogether and opt for walking or cycling instead, as well as improved public transport," she says. "It is simply not sustainable to exchange every car on the road today with an electric car." LONDON, February 28 -- Aston Martin beat its 2018 car-sales target and predicted further growth this year as the luxury automaker seeks to rebound from a shaky initial public offering in October. The Gaydon, England-based company sold 6,441 vehicles last year, a gain of 26 percent and above the top end of the forecast range, according to a statement Thursday. It reiterated a target of 7,100 to 7,300 car sales for 2019. Key Insights Aston Martin’s DBX SUV, seen as crucial for future growth, is on track to begin full production in the second half, with a new plant at St Athan, Wales, complete. The expansion comes as global auto markets slow, with carmakers like Daimler AG issuing cautious forecasts. Aston Martin appears more positive after a 31 percent jump in China sales, where rivals have seen demand stutter, and even higher growth in the U.S. The company plans to cope with a no-deal Brexit by importing parts via a variety of ports and even by air to combat customs delays. It will tap 30 million pounds ($40 million) of extra working capital if needed, though has committed only 2 million pounds. Aston Martin has argued that it should be seen as on a par with Ferrari NV, an aspiration that’s brought immediate pressure as the Italian company has a stronger balance sheet and higher earnings multiples. The U.K. company plans to deliver 14,000 cars a year in the medium term, more than doubling current production. Market Reaction Aston Martin shares closed at 1,374.40 pence on Wednesday, 27 percent below the IPO price of 19 pounds a share. That gives the company a market value of 3.13 million pounds, less than one-fifth that of Ferrari, which listed in 2015. Full year revenue advanced 25 percent to 1.1 billion pounds, while adjusted earnings before interest and tax rose 18 percent to 146.9 million pounds. Both numbers were in line with analyst estimates. Adjusted Ebitda is expected to be lower in the first half in the absence of gains on disposals a year ago. SHANGHAI, February 28 -- Shenzhen's 2018 gross domestic product surpassed that of Hong Kong, calculated by the annual average exchange rate, for the first time in history, as the latter unveiled the government's 2019-20 budget. Hong Kong's GDP grew 3 percent in 2018 to HK$ 2.845 trillion ($362.4 billion), equivalent to 2.4 trillion yuan based on the average annual exchange rate, according to the government's Census and Statistics Department. Meanwhile, its neighboring city and China's "Silicon Valley" Shenzhen earlier this year announced a year-on-year increase of 7.5 percent in GDP-2.422 trillion yuan in total. Therefore, Hong Kong was behind by about 22 billion yuan and Shenzhen also ascended to the top spot in GDP in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Shenzhen's 2017 GDP already outperformed Hong Kong according to the real-time exchange rate, but fell behind if calculated by the annual average exchange rate. Converting using the average rate in the year is relatively more accurate, said Sun Bushu, deputy director of the South China City Research Association. However, per capita GDP in Hong Kong in 2018 was HK$381,870, equal to around 322,000 yuan according to the annual average exchange rate, and remains above Shenzhen's 200,000 yuan. Furthermore, he estimated that Guangzhou would also catch up with Hong Kong soon. Hong Kong's Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said in his budget speech that the local economy was expanding with a stronger growth momentum during the first half of 2018, but had slowed down in the second half due to brewing trade tensions and other unfavorable conditions. For the fourth quarter, the growth rate was a mere 1.3 percent, making it the slowest pace since the first quarter of 2016. HANOI, February 28 -- The White House says no joint agreement was reached between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at their second summit in Hanoi. “No agreement was reached at this time, but their respective teams look forward to meeting in the future,” press secretary Sarah Sanders wrote in a statement. Sanders added: “President Donald J. Trump of the United States and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea had very good and constructive meetings in Hanoi, Vietnam, on February 27-28, 2019." White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the two leaders "had very good and constructive meetings" and "discussed various ways to advance denuclearization and economic driven concepts," but that "no agreement was reached at this time." The two leaders had been scheduled to hold a signing ceremony Thursday afternoon in Hanoi for an expected deal. But the event was called off less than two hours before it was supposed to take place, and Trump moved up his departure time from Vietnam. Trump had spent the morning setting expectations for the event, repeatedly stressing that he was "in no rush" to force North Korea to denuclearize. "Speed is not that important to me as long as there’s no testing," Trump said Thursday morning in Vietnam, referencing Pyongyang's halt of missile tests. At one point, Trump reiterated the phrase "no rush" several times in a row. "Over the years, I’m sure we’ll be together a lot,” he added. In a startling moment, Kim even responded to reporters' questions about his intentions and predictions for the summit. “It’s too early to tell, but I wouldn’t say I’m pessimistic,” he said through a translator, perhaps answering a foreign journalist's question for the first time. “From what I feel right now I do have a feeling that good results will come out." ISLAMABAD, February 27 -- Pakistan and India said on Wednesday they had shot down each other’s warplanes, in a dramatically escalating confrontation that has fueled concerns of an all-out conflict between the nuclear-armed rivals. Pakistan said it struck two Indian jets in its airspace, while India confirmed the loss of one of its planes and said it had shot down a Pakistani fighter jet. Four bodies were recovered from the wreckage of an Indian Air Force chopper, said officials. Pakistan initially said it captured two Indian pilots, but later its military spokesman announced there was “only one pilot” in Pakistani custody. The clash prompted Pakistan to close its airspace “until further notice”, while at least six airports were closed in India, and a vast area of airspace north of New Delhi was closed to civilian flights. India’s foreign ministry demanded the “immediate and safe return” of the pilot, calling on Pakistan to ensure no harm comes to him. The intensifying tension between the neighbours threatens to undo recent diplomatic progress between India and China, which is a long-standing close ally and arms supplier to Pakistan.
On the sidelines of trilateral talks with Russia on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj and expressed concern over the escalating conflict. Other global powers, including the United States and European Union, have also called for calm, while Malaysia issued a travel advisory for its citizens to avoid non-essential travel to the affected areas. Calling for talks with India to defuse the situation, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday warned of the potentially catastrophic consequences should “better sense” not prevail. “History tells us that wars are full of miscalculation,” Khan said during a televised broadcast to the nation. “My question is that given the weapons we have can we afford miscalculation?” He said Pakistan was “ready to cooperate”, adding: “Let’s sit together to talk to find a solution.” ISLAMABAD, February 27 -- Pakistan’s authorities on Wednesday closed its airspace against the backdrop of an aggravation of relations with India, as follows from a statement by the international system of notifications for air personnel. According to the NOTAM notification, the air space will stay closed till 02:59 of February 28. A similar notification has been issued by Karachi international airport. On Tuesday, India declared it had delivered an airstrike against a camp of the Jaish-e-Mohammed group in the Pakistan-controlled part of Kashmir. Pakistan’s Air Force on Wednesday said in response that it had rocketed military facilities in India’s northern state of Jammu and Kashmir. New Delhi and Islamabad added that each other’s fighter planes had been shot down. The airspace over northern India has been temporarily closed for security reasons. Many civil flights are canceled. HANOI, Februari 27 -- US President Donald Trump shook hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the start of their second summit Wednesday, saying the totalitarian state could enjoy a brilliant future if it gives up nuclear weapons. Trump predicted a "very successful" summit as the pair prepared for dinner at the luxury Sofitel Legend Metropole hotel in Hanoi to follow up on their initial historic meeting in Singapore in June. In a brief sit-down ahead of one-on-one talks, Trump repeated his view that North Korea had "tremendous" economic potential. For his part, Kim pledged to do his "best" to achieve an outcome that "will be welcomed by all people." They were due to open with about 20 minutes of head-to-head talks before sitting around a table with only a handful of top advisers. Negotiations were then scheduled to resume on Thursday. Earlier, Trump sent a tweet touting North Korea's "AWESOME" potential if his "friend" Kim agrees to relinquish his weapons. The president risks being distracted by scandal back in Washington, where his former lawyer Michael Cohen was set to describe him as a "conman" in bombshell testimony to Congress scheduled for shortly after the summit dinner ends on the other side of the world. But Trump, seeking a big foreign policy win to push back against domestic troubles, believes he can make history with North Korea -- and claims Japan's prime minister has already nominated him for a Nobel Peace Prize. His goal is to persuade Kim to dismantle his nuclear weapons and resolve a stand-off with the totalitarian state that has bedevilled US leaders since the end of the Korean war in 1953. To lure Kim into radical change, Trump is believed to be considering offering a formal peace declaration -- though perhaps not a formal treaty -- to draw a line under the technically still unfinished war. BARCELONA, February 27 -- Current lap time results [11am] from the second Formula 1 pre-season test at Circuit de Catalunya. 1. Carlos Sainz Jr. ESP McLaren F1 Team MCL34 1m 17.144s 23 laps 2. Sebastian Vettel GER Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow SF90 1m 18.311s 36 laps 3. Max Verstappen NED Aston Martin Red Bull Racing Honda RB15 1m 18.395s 40 laps 4. Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport W10 1m 19.205s 32 laps 5. Daniil Kvyat RUS Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda STR14 1m 19.351s 21 laps 6. Sergio Perez MEX SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team RP19 1m 19.704s 12 laps 7. Romain Grosjean FRA Rich Energy Haas F1 Team VF-19 1m 19.717s 23 laps 8. Kimi Raikkonen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing C38 1m 19.758s 23 laps 9. Daniel Ricciardo AUS Renault F1 Team R.S.19 1m 24.122s 31 laps 10. Robert Kubica POL ROKiT Williams Racing FW42 1m 41.622s 13 laps NEW DELHI, February 27 -- Pakistan shot down two Indian Air Force planes in its airspace in Kashmir. A military spokesman said that one Indian pilot had been captured. “PAF shot down two Indian aircrafts inside Pakistani airspace,” tweeted military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor, adding that one aircraft had fallen in Pakistani-held Kashmir, while the other crashed on the Indian side. “One Indian pilot arrested by troops on ground while two in the area,” he said without elaborating further. News agency ANI reported that India also shot down a Pakistan air force F-16 fighter jet. The fighter jet was shot down in Indian retaliatory fire 3km within Pakistan territory in Lam valley, Nowshera sector. Islamabad said it had struck across the Line of Control, the de facto border between India and Pakistan, from “within Pakistani airspace”. “This was not a retaliation to continued Indian belligerence. Pakistan has therefore, taken strikes at non-military target, avoiding human loss and collateral damage. Sole purpose being to demonstrate our right, will and capability for self-defence,” Islamabad said in a statement. CNN-IBN reported that commercial air traffic had been shut down in Chandigarh, Leh and the whole of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, with some flights to Jammu and Srinagar returning to their cities of origin. India and Pakistan exchanged fire along their contested border in Kashmir on Wednesday (Feb 27), a day after Indian warplanes struck inside Pakistan for the first time since a war in 1971, while leading powers urged the nuclear armed rivals to show restraint. Tensions have been elevated since a suicide car bombing by Pakistan-based militants in Indian-controlled Kashmir killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police on Feb 14, but the risk of conflict rose dramatically on Tuesday when India launched an air strike on what it said was a militant training base. The attack targeted the Jaish-e-Mohammed militant group that claimed credit for the suicide attack. But while India said a large number of JeM fighters had been killed, Pakistani officials said the Indian air strike was a failure and inflicted no casualties. On Tuesday evening, Pakistan began shelling using heavy calibre weapons in 12 to 15 places along the de facto border in Kashmir, known as the Line of Control (LoC), a spokesman for the Indian defence forces said on Wednesday. BARCELONA, February 26 -- McLaren started the second week of Formula One's pre-season testing with the fastest time, after Lando Norris set a 1:17.709 in the final hour of the afternoon session. The time was 0.4s shy of the best lap from last week's test and put McLaren at the top of the timesheets for the first time this year. It coincided with McLaren's former driver Fernando Alonso visiting the paddock for the first time since he walked away from F1 last year. Norris set the time on the C4 tyre -- the second softest compound in Pirelli's range -- compared to the C5 used for the fastest Nico Hulkenberg's fastest time last week. The lap moved Norris 0.006s ahead of Red Bull's Pierre Gasly, although the RB15 set its time on the harder C3 tyres. "We pushed a little more today, but really it's all about understanding how the car works," Gasly said. "The pace was good, but we just have to focus on ourselves and work through the programme we've defined for each day. "So far it's been positive; we've managed to get through our plan and we've gained a lot of mileage. The potential is there so we'll just try to improve in the areas we can, keep our heads down and keep working." Shortly after setting the time, Norris stopped on track between Turns 2 and 3, resulting in the third red flag of the day. One of the earlier red flags was also caused by Norris when his car lost hydraulic pressure at Turn 3 and the other was caused by Valtteri Bottas' Mercedes stopping on track with a loss of oil pressure, which resulted in a lengthily engine change and limited the Finn to just a handful in the afternoon. It was another underwhelming day for Mercedes despite a new aerodynamic package arriving at the track on Tuesday morning. The updates feature changes to the nose, front wing, barge boards and sidepods that the team hopes will close the gap to Ferrari from the first week. Lewis Hamilton completed 80 laps in the morning without issue but the problem in the afternoon occurred on Bottas' second lap out of the pits and cost him somewhere in the region of 70 laps of running. He went on to complete seven laps in total, including a 1:20.167, which moved him ahead of Hamilton and up to 11th overall. 1. Norris, McLaren, 1:17.709, 80 laps (C4) 2. Gasly, Red Bull, 1:17.715, 136 laps (C3) 3. Stroll, Racing Point, 1:17.824, 82 laps (C5) 4. Vettel, Ferrari, 1:17.925, 81 laps (C3) 5. Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo, 1:18.589, 99 laps (C4) 6. Albon, Toro Rosso, 1:18.649, 103 laps (C4) 7. Leclerc, Ferrari, 1:18.651, 29 laps (C3) 8. Magnussen, Haas, 1:18.769, 131 laps (C4) 9. Russell, Williams, 1:19.662, 119 laps (C5) 10. Ricciardo, Renault, 1:20.107, 77 laps (C3) 11. Bottas, Mercedes, 1:20.167, 7 laps (C2) 12. Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:20.332, 83 laps (C2) 13. Hulkenberg, Renault, 1:20.348, 80 laps (C3) (Tyre compounds in brackets C1-C5, hardest to softest) |
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