It was not the typical Bahrain weather which greeted the drivers on Day 2 of testing, with chilly temperatures and rain interrupting the morning session for about one hour.
Teams focused on reliability and long-runs, team efficiency, polishing technical details, and ensuring everything works smoothly within their organization.
Lewis Hamilton finished the morning quickest of all with 1:29.379, close to Max Verstappen’s 1:29.179 qualifying time from last year’s grand prix.
Hamilton seemed more comfortable in the red car on the second running day. Ferrari looked more competitive. The seven-time World Champion beat his former Mercedes team-mate George Russell by 0.399s.
Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc had a smooth day and a spectacular spin in the evening. He finished third, marginally slower than his team-mate.
Mercedes clocked up a solid 157 laps. They should have had a much better day, considering the circumstances, but they did not. Toto Wolff admitted that he’s “a bit worried at the moment because that should be conditions where we should be two seconds quicker than everybody else, which was the only highlight last year in terms of performance in Las Vegas, and we are not”.
Carlos Sainz in the Williams set the fastest time at 1:29.348 in the afternoon session, while he had run the whole day and clocked up 127 laps.
Alex Albon’s best time for Williams in the qualifying session last year at Bahrain was 1:30.221 in Q2, good enough for P13 on the starting grid. Therefore, Carlos Sainz’s better time in testing can indicate the improvements the team has achieved over the winter.
Red Bull encountered an engine issue that restricted Liam Lawson to only 28 laps during the morning session.
Lando Norris put down some late-session laps on the C3 tiers. He had a wide moment at the final corner in a run that would end a lap which had seen him go purple in Sector 2. McLaren still seems to be the strongest team.
Tomorrow, times will be more relevant, and we will have Max Verstappen back in the Red Bull car.
01 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:29.348 127 laps – full day
02 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +0.031 45*
03 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.083 83
04 George Russell Mercedes +0.430 71*
05 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +0.436 87
06 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +0.881 57
07 Liam Lawson Red Bull Racing +0.904 91 – full day
08 Jack Doohan Alpine +1.020 80
09 Pierre Gasly Alpine +1.082 40*
10 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +1.327 94
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +1.352 45*
12 Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls +1.445 46*
13 Oscar Piastri McLaren +1.473 44*
14 Lando Norris McLaren +1.534 77
15 Gabriel Bortoleto Kick Sauber +1.709 80
16 Nico Hulkenberg Kick Sauber +2.109 56*
17 Esteban Ocon Haas F1 Team +3.723 69
18 Oliver Bearman Haas F1 Team +5.024 66*
*- The driver took part in the morning session. Lap counts in brackets.
