The cars are getting ready to return to the track for the second day of testing at the Sakhir circuit. Follow the LIVE coverage of Day 2 of the F1 pre-season tests in Bahrain: the LIVE updates of the morning session.
With the first day on track in Manama behind them, the teams are immediately preparing to get back to work. At 8:00 AM on Thursday, February 27, the cars will return to the track for Day 2 of the F1 Tests in Bahrain, with LIVE coverage starting at 7:55 AM.
LINE-UP – During the morning of the second day in Bahrain, as on Wednesday, Ferrari will send Lewis Hamilton out on track. McLaren has made the same choice, starting Day 2 with Oscar Piastri. Liam Lawson will spend the entire day in the new Red Bull, while Mercedes will switch driver roles compared to the first day. In the morning, George Russell will take the wheel, with Antonelli’s turn coming after lunch.
12:00 – Checkered flag.
11:55 – A recap of the laps completed this morning. In the final minutes, VSC and Red Flag tests were conducted.
Hamilton 44
Russell 70
Sainz 43
Gasly 39
Alonso 45
Tsunoda 46
Piastri 44
Lawson 28
Hulkenberg 55
Ocon 68
11:52 – Colored paint applied to the front suspension for Hamilton’s final run. Russell and Piastri continue lapping in the 1:33 range. Earlier, Hamilton, like yesterday, had a higher fuel load.
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11:50 – Consistent stint for Sainz on C2 tires.
1:35.427
1:35.415
1:35.490
1:35.595
1:35.617
11:45 – The reason for Lawson’s low mileage has been explained: Red Bull detected an issue with water pressure in the power unit, which is now being replaced.
11:42 – Hamilton is now on a long run, improving from 1:36 to 1:35.
11:40 – Lawson will also be driving in the afternoon session, so he may be able to make up for lost mileage.
11:37 – The driver with the fewest laps this morning was Lawson, completing only 28.
11:20 – Hamilton has currently put half a second between himself and Russell.
11:19 – Hamilton also improves his T2 and finishes the lap in 1’29″379, very close to Verstappen’s 2024 pole time (1’29″179).
11:17 – Another mini stint for Piastri with the C3. Hamilton improves in T1 by over a tenth.
1:30.839
2:14.131
1:33.696
inlap
2:48.425
outlap
1:32.858
1:33.082
1:33.187
1:33.179
11:15 – Meanwhile, Alonso has completed a run with the hardest tire, the C1.
1:35.884
1:36.108
1:36.168
1:36.378
1:36.549
1:36.630
1:36.814
11:13 – Mistake in Turn 11 for Hamilton who lifts off the throttle.
11:12 – Hamilton is back out with the C3 tire. He improves his T1 by 31 thousandths.
11:10 – Russell has completed 56 laps, Ocon 49, and Hulkenberg 45, the three with the most laps.
11:07 – Let’s take a quick look at MotoGP for an important update: Jorge Martin will also miss the Argentina GP.
10:55 – Hamilton now takes the best time in T2 and lowers the reference by five thousandths, 1’29″670. He has already improved his 2024 Qualifying time with Mercedes.
10:52 – Russell first takes the lead in 1’29″879, then Hamilton immediately goes back to the top in 1’29″675 with the best sector times in the first and third sectors. Both on C3 tires.
10:50 – Sainz continues his fast laps with the hard C2 tire. He set the record in T1, coming within 10 thousandths of Hamilton.
10:48 – Alonso was running with more fuel, here’s his run with the C3 tire.
1:36.513
1:35.877
1:36.093
1:35.836
1:36.180
1:35.908
1:36.225
1:35.520
10:35 – Here’s Russell’s stint with the C3 tire.
1:42.584
1:38.291
1:37.650
1:36.196
1:35.188
1:39.407
1:34.346
1:33.979
1:34.073
1:33.739
1:33.722
1:39.938
10:32 – Carlos Sainz, with today’s C2 tire time, has already been faster than the Williams in qualifying in Bahrain 2024.
10:30 – 33.6 for Hamilton as well. Russell reports seeing more drops of rain.
10:28 – Piastri is doing a long run with times similar to yesterday afternoon, moving from a 32 to a 33.
10:25 – Piastri slightly ran wide in Turn 1.
10:22 – Tsunoda no longer has any damage, but there’s colored paint on the front wing. Lawson is back on track too.
10:20 – McLaren and Red Bull used this rain break to work on the suspension, continuing to collect data at different ground clearance levels than before.
10:15 – Hulkenberg is also back on track with Sauber.
10.10 – George Russell is back on track. Ferrari president John Elkann is also present in the garage.
10:05 – The rain has stopped, and the sky is clearing up. Track activity will resume shortly.
09:55 – Let’s take a look at what happened in Barcelona during the three days of F2 testing. The fastest driver was the Frenchman Meguetounif.
09:50 – Ocon returns to the pits for good after this series of ‘out-in’ laps.
09:46 – Not much water is being lifted by Ocon’s rear tires as he continues to enter the pit lane to practice starts.
09:44 – Ocon passes through the pit lane to practice a start at the end of the pit lane.
09:40 – Only Aston Martin and Haas have requested wet tires from Pirelli for these tests. We’ll see if they use them.
09:35 – It’s quite unusual to deal with rain in Bahrain. F1 stopped visiting Barcelona years ago to avoid the risk of bad weather, yet it has now materialized in Sakhir.
09:30 – No one is on track at the moment, as heavy rain is falling on the Sakhir circuit, as confirmed by this tweet from Aston Martin.
09:25 – Russell has completed 28 laps, making him the driver with the most laps so far. Piastri has also been ‘rowing’ through Turn 11, the wettest part of the track.
09:15 – Sainz runs wide at Turn 11, indicating that the track is more slippery. Tsunoda once again has rakes on his Racing Bulls.
09:10 – Piastri returns to the track.
09:05 – Russell attempted to push again but lost the rear at Turn 2. The raindrops are increasing, as seen on the cameras.
08:55 – In last year’s second morning of testing, the fastest was Sainz with Ferrari in 29.9 seconds. The Williams driver, now on hard C2 tires, sets the best second sector time and is second, 72 thousandths behind Hamilton.
08:52 – Good lap from Sainz as well, third with a time of 1’30″611, 531 thousandths behind Hamilton on hard C2 tires. The Spanish driver has already improved his best lap from yesterday.
08:50 – After a cooldown lap, Hamilton pushes again and improves further in T2 and T3, setting a 1’30″080.
08:47 – Hamilton sets the best times in the second and third sectors, moving to the top with 1’30″287, 92 thousandths faster than Russell.
08:45 – Gasly moves up to third, 865 thousandths behind Russell, on C3 tires.
08:40 – Gasly, Piastri, and Sainz have yet to set a timed lap. Russell has completed 16 laps, Lawson 13, and Ocon 12 so far.
08:35 – Lawson gets closer to Russell with a 1’31″233; the Red Bull driver has already improved his time from yesterday.
08:32 – A slight slide for Alonso exiting Turn 2.
08:30 – For now, Lawson is second at 1.7 seconds, Hamilton third at 2 seconds.
08:28 – Russell takes the lead with a 1’30″379, already faster than Norris’ time yesterday on the same C3 compound.
08:25 – The track gets busier again as Lawson and Sainz leave the pits. Tsunoda joins them, now without the rakes. A small misunderstanding occurs between Lawson and Sainz.
08:20 – So far, Hamilton, Russell, Hulkenberg, Ocon, Lawson, and Tsunoda have set a timed lap.
08:15 – Hamilton surpasses Russell with a time of 1’33″6 for the Ferrari driver.
08:13 – Tsunoda is running with a noticeable set of rakes in front of the sidepods. For now, Russell is the fastest ahead of Hamilton, but the lap times are still high.
08:10 – Hamilton has sensors on the front wing.
08:07 – Hamilton also begins his work program.
08:05 – Installation lap for Oscar Piastri as well.
08:03 – Gasly also joins his colleagues with prominent aerodynamic rakes. Over the radio, Russell reports that the track is very slippery, with a few raindrops starting to fall.
08:00 – Green light, Hulkenberg and Russell take to the track. The asphalt is slightly damp from the rain that fell at dawn (06:00 local time).
07:55 – Air temperature is 13°C, track temperature is 14°C. Rain risk is at 90%.
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