AMuS: “Paddock currently places Ferrari in second place, Mercedes believe Red Bull have 1s lead”. Auto, Motor und Sport reports on how things stand after two days of pre-season testing.

Scuderia Ferrari had a fruitful second day at the Bahrain International Circuit during Formula 1’s sole pre-season test. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz collectively completed 141 laps, covering a distance of 763 kilometers. The lap count might have been even more impressive if not for an issue encountered by Charles, resulting in a temporary halt to the session for all drivers.

Is Red Bull a cause for concern or not?

What was witnessed with Max Verstappen on the first day of testing – completing an impressive 142 laps and outpacing the closest competitor by over a second – has raised concerns throughout Formula 1 about the possibility of another Red Bull dominance in the 2024 Formula One championship. However, the second day saw a Ferrari topping the charts, offering not just the fastest time but also instilling cautious optimism about race pace of the SF-23 single-seater.

Paddock Whispers

Naturally, attempting to decipher the work of each team and the amount of fuel loaded by the drivers is pure speculation at this stage of the pre-season testing session, but journalists present in the Bahrain paddock are seeking information directly from the teams. While maintaining the anonymity of their sources, renowned journalist Michael Schmidt, who writes for the German automobile magazine Auto, Motor und Sport, spoke in an interview for Sky Deutschland at the end of the second day of testing, explaining that “at the moment, in the paddock, it is believed that Ferrari is the second fastest behind Red Bull.” – the German journalist pointed out.

However, he also noted that “Mercedes engineers think that Red Bull is one second ahead of everyone,” an opinion not shared “by Williams engineers, who see the world champions with an advantage of around half a second.” – Michael Schmidt concluded.