Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas ended up as fastest on Day 2 of Bahrain F1 Test ahead of AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.
After the troubles on Day 1, it was slightly better on Day 2 of Bahrain F1 Test, with no sandstorm to affect the running. It was still windy which made life tricky for all of the drivers, as Mercedes’ Bottas ended the fastest with a 1m30.289s (C5) lap.
Having had just the seven laps on Day 1, Bottas finally got more than 50 in one session on Day 2 and showed some better pace to top after a late quick lap, to displace AlphaTauri’s Gasly (1m30.413s, C5) as Aston Martin’s Stroll (1m30.460s, C5) was third.
His late lap pushed McLaren’s Lando Norris (1m30.586s, C4) to fourth from Alfa Romeo Racing’s Antonio Giovinazzi (1m30.760s, C5), who did a solid job in fifth ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (1m30.903s, C5).
The Top 10 was rounded out by Williams’ Nicholas Latifi (1m31.672s, C4) in seventh, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez (1m31.682s, C2) eighth, McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo (1m32.215s, C3) ninth and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso (1m32.339s, C2) 10th.
It was a late improvement from Latifi in the afternoon session as the Canadian had a spin at Turn 7 in the morning running. Also, Perez caused a red flag in the second session while dueling with the Canadian, when his engine cover flew off on the main straight.
After his run was cut short on Day 1, it was better for AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda (1m32.684s, C4) on Day 2 in 11th, with Haas’ Mick Schumacher (1m32.883s, C4) slotting in 12th from Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz (1m33.072s, C3).
The Spaniard was also one of the drivers to have an off moment. The order was rounded out by Haas’ Nikita Mazepin (1m33.101s, C4) in 14th, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton (1m33.399s, C2) 15th and Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel (1m38.849s, Prototype) 16th.
The two F1 champions saw trouble, where the former caused a red flag after he spun onto the gravel trap. As for the latter, he was sidelined in the garage due to gearbox trouble, with the team needing time to replace it.
Here’s full lap count and times from Day 2 of Bahrain F1 Test:
Here’s how Day 1 of Bahrain F1 Test panned out
Here’s the Bahrain F1 Test line-up