The Day 2 of F1 2024 Bahrain Test was another smooth running apart from the red flag incident as Ferrari displaced Red Bull from the top.
Much like the first day, the second day in F1 2024 Bahrain Test was more or less smooth as well apart from the red flag incident when the drain cover came lose. There was loss of time but an early lunch allowed for the afternoon session to be extended.
Ferrari courtesy of Carlos Sainz took the top spot after a C4 run for the Spaniard. He did a heavy work despite running half a day as the Italian manufacturer completed another day of high mileage, just like Red Bull who were forced to switch to solo driver.
Initially, the idea was to split the day, but Sergio Perez did the whole day after multiple issues he faced during the course of the day. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton too got whole day at his disposal as he had his first chance to kick-start the farewell season.
The Brit was happy with how his day panned out, looking a it better than this time last year. Joining Red Bull and Mercedes in solo driver day was Williams, who had Logan Sargeant in the car for the whole day. He did manage to accumulate more than 100 laps.
There were issues still that Williams faced but they were able to fix it to allow Sargeant to run. McLaren faced some issues too which cut short both driver’s running, especially Lando Norris in the afternoon. Their lap count was on the lower side for the second day.
Among others, the likes of Aston Martin, Alpine, Stake F1 Team, Haas and Visa Cash App RB, all of them did not report much trouble as they carried out their programme as per the expectations, where a couple went for glory laps.
Carlos Sainz: “Another day of testing completed according to plan and without issues. We managed to go through the whole afternoon programme smoothly, combining various tests with low and high fuel runs, so it was interesting to get a feel for this year’s car in different configurations. Now I look forward to the last session tomorrow morning where we’ll keep focusing on the long runs.”
Charles Leclerc: “The first two days have gone well as we have run our full programme, although at this stage, we can’t say how competitive we are. I think the first time we will get an idea of where we stand will be in qualifying next week. We made some general changes to the car today and yesterday, with our focus shifting to fine-tuning our set-up on the last day of testing.”
Sergio Perez: “It was unexpected to be in the car all day today but the delays meant my early runs were cut short, so the Team decided to extend my day and I am back in the car again tomorrow morning. Generally speaking, I think the RB20 is a step forward for the Team and we have gone in the right direction for us. It is a tricky track here from morning to afternoon, dialing in set-up and getting to understand those different set-ups because the track is changing on every outing, so you must base a lot on your feeling. I have been working over the winter on understanding last season from a personal perspective, in order to start the season on an upward curve. You are always learning and always want to get better and that’s no different for me in 2024.”
Lewis Hamilton: “It was a productive day out there. We gathered lots of learnings about the W15, both in our long running and single lap work. We’ve clearly made an improvement with this year’s car and it’s much nicer to drive. A big thank you to everyone at Brackley and Brixworth for the efforts they’ve put in to deliver that over the past year. I’m really grateful for all their hard work. We’ve still got progress to make of course. But this is a good foundation for us to build on. We’ll keep our heads down and continue to work to find improvements, both over the rest of the test and into next week. I’m looking forward to being back in the car tomorrow morning and continuing that learning.”
Lando Norris: “Another day of testing done. We ran into some small issues that set us back today so we couldn’t get all the running we wanted to do in the second session, especially at high fuel. There’s still some work to do on the balance of the car but there were still a lot of things learned which is good. We have plenty to look into tonight and some different things to try and examine tomorrow.”
Oscar Piastri: “A slightly shorter morning than planned today due to the red flag, however, it was still a very useful session. We worked through a lot, focussing on set-up work whilst dialling the car in. The pace seems reasonable and we’re making decent progress with our test programme. Another solid day and I look forward to getting more laps in tomorrow.”
Esteban Ocon: “It was a very long session today with the extended running in the afternoon. We missed some track time in the morning due to the stoppage, but we managed to get it back and finish the programme we wanted to complete in the morning. We improved the car throughout the day, and it was nice to try the car in different conditions, which are more reflective of what we’ll see next weekend in the Grand Prix. We had a bit of racing towards the end which was also fun. This does not usually happen at testing but this time everyone was pretty eager and it was very exciting on the run down to Turn 1 with a number of cars side by side and sparks flying everywhere. I’ve definitely got the appetite to go racing now!”
Pierre Gasly: “It’s been a good day for the team in Bahrain with a lot of testing complete and a lot of data for us to analyse. On my side, unfortunately, our session was cut short with a red flag. That’s never ideal as we could not complete our full programme, but that is the way it is sometimes. I’m looking forward to being back in the car tomorrow afternoon and continuing to optimise the package. We continue to understand different things each time the car is on track and we are doing everything we can to maximise our learning before the first race of the season. After a shorter day than I expected, my time in the car tomorrow will be very important.”
Valtteri Bottas: “Today has been another good day on track; we gathered a large amount of data over 130 laps, and the driving felt smooth, even better than yesterday with cooler track conditions – as I took part in the afternoon session, which is closer to what we’re going to experience next week. Balance-wise, I believe we moved forward and found some more performance, which surely gives us a nice feeling. Still, there’s always room for improvement, and that’s the direction we’re aiming for tomorrow, trying to get everything out of the final day of testing.”
Zhou Guanyu: “We had another solid day of testing today; we have definitely seen some progression compared to yesterday and were able to collect more valuable data and insights. Unfortunately, our morning run had to end early due to the red flag, but luckily, we still managed to get through our anticipated programme without having to cut anything short. Tomorrow is one more day to get a better feel for the car before our first race next weekend.”
Logan Sargeant: “We still had a couple of issues throughout the day but the red flag definitely helped with the extended session. It was generally a positive day; we made good headway in the right direction and know where we’re heading. There are lots of positives despite there being some things for us to fix, but I’m looking forward to getting back into the rhythm as I started to feel more comfortable throughout the day. I’m fighting the car a little more than I’d like but those things will come together soon. It’s still a great day of experience ahead of next weekend. Testing went by quickly and I definitely would’ve liked another day but it will be great to see Alex in the car tomorrow and for us to keep testing the car.”
Kevin Magnussen: “I think it’s been another solid day for us, focusing on race runs and high-fuel performance, addressing the same issues as yesterday. Our tire issues from last year are our main focus and it’s been very interesting. I think we’ve made some progress, and for sure there’s a lot of work to do, but they’re going in the right direction. I’m not sure how fast we are, I’d be surprised if we’re in a very different position to last year, but I think we’re in slightly better condition on tires. It’s very hard to conclude from running in one set of conditions, on one track. But for now, there are positive signs on the issues from last year.”
Nico Hulkenberg: “Yesterday was quite good as it was a lot of work, a lot of laps we got in, and some quality work. This morning was cut short with the track issue they had, so we obviously lost a bit of time but so far, so good. I think we’ve got some good work done already and it seems like a step forward and an improvement compared to 12 months ago which is good news, but it’s still going to be a challenging time.”
Here’s how Day 2 of F1 2024 Bahrain Test panned out
Here’s what was said after Day 1 of Bahrain Test
Here’s link to a F1 Discord channel, join in to interact