Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets on the second morning of preseason testing in Bahrain as he continued to get to grips with his new Ferrari Formula 1 car.
For the second day in a row, Hamilton was in the Ferrari during the morning session and, despite a couple of rain showers curtailing running, set the fastest time of the test with a 1:29.379 on a dry track.
Although lap times in testing can be influenced by numerous variables and are very rarely an indicator of ultimate performance, Hamilton’s lap would have been good enough to secure second on the grid at the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix and was 0.331 seconds faster than his qualifying lap for Mercedes last year.
Improvements on 2024 are to be expected, but the lap — set on the C3 compound that will be the softest tyre on offer at this year’s Bahrain Grand Prix – looked clean on what has been a solid test so far for the seven-time world champion.
Hamilton finished the morning 0.399 seconds faster than former teammate George Russell in the Mercedes in second place, also using the C3 compound. Carlos Sainz was third fastest for Williams, setting a time 0.711 seconds off Hamilton but using the harder C2 compound.
Sainz, along with Liam Lawson in the Red Bull, is planning to run a full day of testing whereas all other drivers are scheduled to swap with their teammates over the hour-long lunchbreak. It means the end of Thursday’s running will likely be Sainz’s and Lawson’s last laps in their respective cars before the opening practice session in Australia on March 14.
Lawson only completed 28 laps in the morning due to a loss of water pressure on the Red Bull’s Honda engine, but the team is hoping to be back on track as early as possible in the afternoon session.
Aside from the brief period of rain, which saw Esteban Ocon venture out on a set of intermediate tyres, the morning session finished without major incident.
A rare but minor on-track collision occurred when Oscar Piastri’s McLaren tapped the rear of Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber in Turn 7. Hulkenberg had attempted to move out the way of the McLaren in the corner, but seemingly put off by the Sauber’s presence, Piastri ran wide of the apex and nudged Hulkenberg’s right rear mid corner. There was no significant damage to either car.
Morning session lap times
Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari – 1:29.379 – 45 laps
George Russell – Mercedes – 1:29.778 – 71 laps
Carlos Sainz – Williams – 1:30.090 – 44 laps
Pierre Gasly – Alpine – 1:30.430 – 40 laps
Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin – 1:30.700 – 45 laps
Yuki Tsunoda – Racing Bulls – 1:30.793 – 46 laps
Oscar Piastri – McLaren – 1:30.821 – 44 laps
Liam Lawson – Red Bull – 1:31.233 – 28 laps
Nico Hulkenberg – Sauber – 1:31.457 – 56 laps
Esteban Ocon – Haas – 1:33.071 – 69 laps.
Source: espn.com