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F1 Bahrain Test, Day 2: Hamilton fastest in morning, rain enforces pause

Lewis Hamilton went fastest in the second morning of Formula 1’s pre-season test at Bahrain, which became increasingly quiet as the rare appearance of rain scuppered much of the running.

Hamilton became the first driver of the test to break into the 1m29s – setting a 1m29.670s - ahead of the final hour of the morning session, following the earlier hiatus due to the onset of rain.

Track conditions had improved enough for Hamilton to beat his 1m30.080s before the intensifying rain hit, and the newly minted Ferrari driver then went three tenths quicker to log a 1m29.379s.

A trickle of early running permeated through the morning’s initial stages as teams sought to gather information with an assortment of aerodynamic measuring devices, before switching to more representative runs.

Nearly an hour of limited on-track running went begging as rain began to fall; early drizzle had been upgraded in intensity, leading to both Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz having wide moments at Turn 11 as both were met with snaps of oversteer.

Only two teams had prepared for any surprise climatic changes with an allocation of intermediate tyres – Aston Martin and Haas. This effectively kept the field in the garage, although Haas broke the silence by sending Esteban Ocon out on the green-walled tyre.

Ocon circulated and used the opportunity to gather experience of a damp-track start on the pitlane apron, but the team’s sole set of inters was ultimately used briefly.

George Russell, Mercedes (Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images)

George Russell encouraged more to join him on track when he eventually resumed slick tyre running with conditions evidently much better, although he and Nico Hulkenberg sustained a few slides in their exploratory tours of the Bahrain circuit.

But, as shown by Hamilton’s growth in speed – and Russell having briefly got close to him with a 1m29.879s to go second fastest - the circuit was considerably riper for longer runs.

This was Sainz’s focus, after the Williams driver got up to third in the times on a set of C2 tyres before transitioning to what was supposed to be a grand-prix-length long run. The Spaniard’s efforts here were interrupted by the rain, and thus he is expected to try again in the afternoon session.

Pierre Gasly was fourth fastest over Fernando Alonso, who spent the early stages of the session circulating on the C1 tyre before switching to mediums following the rain.

After spending the opening two hours doing aero correlation work, Yuki Tsunoda was afforded more performance-based runs over the final half of the session and got to within a tenth of Alonso’s final time for the morning.

Piastri was seventh after limited running in the opening phases of the morning, which left him without a representative lap for some time – and his attempt to set one ended with that rain-enforced slide at Turn 11.

Liam Lawson’s session ended early with a water pressure issue onboard his Red Bull, and he set a low of 28 laps – 43 shy of Russell’s 71-lap total from the morning. Hulkenberg and Ocon completed the order.

Bahrain F1 Test - Day 2 morning times

# Driver Gap Time
1 Lewis Hamilton   1:29.379
2 George Russell +0.399 1:29.778
3 Carlos Sainz +0.711 1:30.090
4 Pierre Gasly +1.051 1:30.430
5 Fernando Alonso +1.321 1:30.700
6 Yuki Tsunoda +1.414 1:30.793
7 Oscar Piastri +1.442 1:30.821
8 Liam Lawson +1.854 1:31.233
9 Nico Hülkenberg +2.078 1:31.457
10 Esteban Ocon +3.692 1:33.071

Photos from the Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

George Russell, Mercedes

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Flavio Briatore, Alpine F1 Executive Advisor

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari SF-25

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Lando Norris, McLaren

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Jack Doohan, Alpine, Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team, Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Pierre Gasly, Alpine

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Yuki Tsunoda, RB F1 Team

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Liam Lawson, Red Bull Racing

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari SF25

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

George Russell, Mercedes

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Yuki Tsunoda, RB F1 Team

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team, Laura Mueller, Haas F1 Race Engineer

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Haas VF-25 nose detail

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari, John Elkann, Ferrari Chairman and CEO

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Isack Hadjar, RB F1 Team

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari SF25

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Liam Lawson, Red Bull Racing

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Carlos Sainz, Williams

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

George Russell, Mercedes

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Yuki Tsunoda, RB F1 Team, Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Toto Wolff, Mercedes

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Liam Lawson, Red Bull Racing

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Carlos Sainz, Williams Racing

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Liam Lawson, Red Bull Racing

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Lando Norris, McLaren

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Pierre Gasly, Alpine

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

George Russell, Mercedes

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Yuki Tsunoda, RB F1 Team

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Liam Lawson, Red Bull Racing

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Carlos Sainz Sr.

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari SF25

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Liam Lawson, Red Bull Racing

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-25

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Laurent Mekies, RB F1 Team Team Principal

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Liam Lawson, Red Bull Racing

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL39

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Carlos Sainz, Williams

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

George Russell, Mercedes

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Yuki Tsunoda, RB F1 Team

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Liam Lawson, Red Bull Racing

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

George Russell, Mercedes

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Liam Lawson, Red Bull Racing

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Liam Lawson, Red Bull Racing

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Lando Norris, McLaren

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Pierre Gasly, Alpine A524

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Lando Norris, McLaren

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Jack Doohan, Alpine

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Carlos Sainz, Williams

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Liam Lawson, Red Bull Racing

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Isack Hadjar, RB F1 Team

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Liam Lawson, Red Bull Racing

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

Formula 1
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In this article
Jake Boxall-Legge
Formula 1
Lewis Hamilton
Ferrari
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