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Formula 1 Bahrain March testing

F1 Bahrain 2021 pre-season testing - Day 2

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You might not think Tsunoda has much in common with Narain Karthikeyan, but both are alumnus of the Carlin junior single-seater squad.

Here's our run-down of the best of that bunch, based on their time with Trevor Carlin's eponymous team from the very bottom of rung on the ladder in F4 all the way up to F2.

PLUS: Carlin's greatest F1 graduates ranked
Takuma Sato, Carlin Motorsport Dallara Mugen Honda F300 leads Narain Karthikeyan at the start

Takuma Sato, Carlin Motorsport Dallara Mugen Honda F300 leads Narain Karthikeyan at the start

Photo by: Sutton Images

The Mazepin-Giovinazzi slug match is currently 66-all. Anybody else reminded of the Mahut-Isner Wimbledon epic? Okay, perhaps not.
Ricciardo is back out on track too, with a set of hard tyres bolted to his McLaren.
Hamilton's first lap is a 1m33.489, so he doesn't improve and stays eighth on the leaderboard. The big question is, how much fuel is he running?

Ahead of the final flurry of laps before the lunch break, one final look back to 1983. Keke Rosberg had already lost out to Nelson Piquet in the 1983 Brazilian GP, on this day 38 years ago, but was stripped of his second-place finish after the race, having been given an illegal push start in the pits following a brief refuelling fire.

But this was no ordinary exclusion. You know when sometimes a decision just doesn’t make sense? Well, you would expect third-placed Niki Lauda’s McLaren to be promoted to runner-up? Nope, second place and its six points was never awarded!

 

Going back to 1983 briefly, this day, 38 years ago, marked the final time that the legendary Cosworth DFV engine started a world championship F1 race from pole, courtesy of Keke Rosberg’s lap in his Williams FW08C. It also proved to be the final naturally aspirated pole until the turbo beasts were outlawed for 1989. But Rosberg’s race was far less successful, albeit still notable…

 

After what might be described as a less-than-ideal start to testing, Hamilton is back out on track again with a set of mediums on his Mercedes W12.

The lap is a good one from Tsunoda, a 1m32.684 that improves on his PB albeit without moving him up the leaderboard.

If you're new here, why not take a glance over the interview Marcus Simmons did with him earlier this year, discussing his rapid ascent through the ranks?

PLUS: The meteoric rise of F1's first 21st century-born racer

Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri AT02

Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri AT02

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Now there’s a quieter spell in proceedings, with just three cars on track, it seems like a good time to cast our minds back over F1’s history. Just the one F1 race has previously taken place on the 13 March: the 1983 Brazilian GP.

That was held at the Jacarepagua circuit and was won by the Brabham BT52 of Nelson Piquet. But, as well as being the first round of the 1983 campaign, the race was notable for a few other occurrences…

 

They're now joined by Tsunoda, who intriguingly has bolted on a set of softs. Time perhaps for a flyer from the man who was so excellent here in F2 last year?
Sainz has ended his medium-tyre run, so we've just got Giovinazzi and Mazepin continuing in their personal duel to see who will complete the most laps this morning still out there.
Latifi winds up another hot lap in the Williams, but can't match his earlier best despite improving in the final sector. It's a 1m33.252s for the Canadian, who managed a 1m32.541s earlier on.
I'm a big fan of the scarf being donned by new Williams CEO Jost Capito. Nothing further to add on that, just thought I'd share it.
The answer on that is a no as Latifi undoes his good work in sector one by understeering wide and over the kerb at Turn 11 - much as we saw Perez do earlier.
Latifi has gone for a run on the softs and has the fastest middle sector so far. Could we see a surge up the leaderboard from Williams?
Vettel, of course, has the fewest laps completed to date with just 6 on the board in the gearbox-plagued Aston. Will we get to see him out again in the final 40 minutes?

It's fair to say it hasn't been the most straightforward opening first half to pre-season testing for Mercedes. The sight of Hamilton eighth on the timesheets takes some getting used to.

In case you're wondering, the current lap tally leaders are Giovinazzi and Mazepin, both on 53 for the morning, with Alonso close behind on 51.
Make that six, as Alonso decides to have another go. Little surprise to see him right on it straight away - quite apart from the fact he's a two-time world champion, he tested a 2018 Renault in Bahrain last year to assist his preparations.
As Ricciardo now comes into the pits and Perez concludes his hard-tyre run, we've got five cars still out on track with Tsunoda, Sainz, Mazepin, Hamilton and Giovinazzi.
It's still pretty dirty off-line, as we see Giovinazzi having to duck to the inside of Ricciardo into Turn 1 - the Australian still out there evaluating the soft tyres with, by the looks of it, a decent chuck of fuel.
Stopwatch
Now we've got another leaderboard change as Tsunoda shoots up to fifth in the AlphaTauri on a 1m32.769s, again medium tyres the rubber of choice for the Japanese rookie.
Sainz is on a medium tyre run and lapping consistently in the mid-1m38s, suggesting he's carrying a fair amount of fuel in the Ferrari.
It's pretty close at the top now - just 0.263s between pace-setter Ricciardo and Perez in third, with Latifi a further tenth behind.
What's that? A change on the leaderboard? Yes indeed, your eyes don't deceive you. Perez charges up to third (incidentally, the place he should have finished in last year's Bahrain GP before that gutting late DNF) on a 1m32.478s.
Alonso has returned to the pits in his Alpine, but we now get his compatriot Carlos Sainz Jr coming out to play in the Ferrari.
Ricciardo certainly isn't pushing too hard on those softs, his last lap a 1m38.807s.
Perez has had a bit of a moment at the fast Turn 11 left-hander, running over the kerb and having to back off on the slippery Tarmac beyond. No harm done though.
The timing screens show that Ricciardo is currently on a soft-tyre run. Can he use them to improve on his best effort?
But it's not enough for the Spaniard to displace Ricciardo atop the timesheets. After going green in sector 1, he ends up with a 1m32.968s which is seven tenths slower than his previous best.
Hamilton is still getting up to speed on the mediums - Alonso is currently the man to watch on a flyer in the Alpine.
After that slightly worrying moment when Mazepin had to go onto the Turn 7 run-off to evade Hamilton, who was dawdling around checking systems, the Haas driver has continued on his medium-tyre run.
After a swift Le Mans-style pitstop, the lesser-spotted Newbold and Lickorish combo are now at the wheel for the next three hours.
Hamilton is back out on track after his spin. Mazepin has to react to avoid the slow moving Mercedes.
 
The pacesetter Ricciardo heads out for another lap. He is watched by team-mate Lando Norris, who appears to be tucking into an ice cream.
Tsunoda has kicked up the dust but continues without issue.
As it stands Aston Martin has only logged six laps today.
If you are wondering why you haven't seen much of the Aston Martin. The team suffered a gearbox issue this morning with Vettel at the wheel.

FAST FACT: Williams driver Felipe Massa recorded the fastest time on F1’s last visit to Bahrain for a pre-season test in 2014, a 1m33.258s. Massa’s time was over six seconds slower than Lewis Hamilton’s pole lap at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix.

By: Jake Boxall-Legge, Tom Howard, James Newbold, Stephen Lickorish

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