F1 Bahrain pre-season test - Day 2
Minute by minute updates on the second day of the 2023 F1 Bahrain pre-season test
After Max Verstappen topped yesterday's opening day of running for Red Bull, on-track action resumes from 07:00 GMT (10:00 local time).
All three days follow the same schedule, with running taking place from 10:00 until 14:15, and from 15:15 until 19:30 (all local time), pausing for a lunch break.
All 10 teams are set to be in action for the Bahrain pre-season test, the only opportunity teams will have to properly put their cars through their paces before the 2023 season proper gets under way next weekend.
More: F1 Bahrain test driver line-up
The Bahrain pre-season test will take place on 23-25 February ahead of the 2023 F1 season opener at the same venue, the Bahrain Grand Prix, on 3-5 March.
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Good morning one and all! It is the difficult second album - F1 pre-season testing Day 2! Can it live up to the hype built by the headline-grabbing opening day?
Here's a run down of who is in action today:
Red Bull: Perez/Verstappen
Ferrari: Sainz/Leclerc
Mercedes: Hamilton/Russell
Alpine: Ocon/Gasly
McLaren: Norris/Piastri
Alfa Romeo: Zhou
Aston Martin: Alonso
Haas: Magnussen/Hulkenberg
AlphaTauri: Tsunoda/de Vries
Williams: Sargeant
Today is one of those days where you need two pairs of eyes. One pair to focus on F1 testing in Bahrain and the other to binge through Drive to Survive as the new season has just been released.
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But if you don't have enough eyes, or rather you have school or work to attend to, here's our review of the latest season and what to watch out for: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/drive-to-survive-season-5-review-still-a-must-watch-despite-drawbacks/10435656/
But for today we are paying full attention to pre-season testing and what is in store on day two. Track action gets going in just under five minutes.
One of the encouraging themes emerging from yesterday was the reliability of the cars, with Aston Martin the only team to suffer an on-track stoppage. Hopefully that means pursuit of performance will be a bit more on the agenda now that the all-important reliability box has been ticked from the run plan.
And as performance is pursued, that may mean cars are run a bit closer to the ground. As Alex Kalinauckas discovered yesterday, porpoising appears to not be as big an issue for the teams compared to one year ago, but that doesn't mean it's not still on their consciousness. Here's his full feature delving into day one of the test: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/has-f1s-porpoising-problem-been-eradicated-in-the-2023-cars/10435666/
Green flag
And we're go! The green light is on at the end of the pitlane and four cars are immediately out on track, with Alonso followed by Zhou, Norris and Sainz.
Sainz looks like he's on the C3 Prototype tyres with no sidewall markings for his first run, and the Ferrari has a big old wiggle at Turn 1 as he starts his first timed effort.
Stopwatch
Sainz it is who posts the first time on the board for the day, a 1m38.225s. Some way off yesterday for now, but he was giving it some beans and even used DRS as he zapped past a slow-moving Alonso on the run to Turn 11.
Perez is out on track for the first time in the test aboard the RB19, and it's bereft of the enormous scaffolding of sensors on Tsunoda's AlphaTauri who he follows down the pit straight.
The McLaren also has an impressive plumage of sensors. We're not entirely sure what the correct noun is for that, really.
Sainz lowers his best time to 1m37.248s before heading to the pits. Ocon for the moment is second for Alpine on a 1m38.344s.
Turn 10 has caught out its first customer of the day. Lewis Hamilton drifts wide on what appears to be the C2, but avoids locking up as he continues on his run plan. It is only testing after all.
Hamilton's first timed lap is a 1m38.344s which puts him second on the timesheets for now.
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A new personal best middle sector from Ocon, but he doesn't improve that time around on the C2 tyres and remains third in the times.
Kevin Magnussen is shaping up for his first proper lap of the morning in the Haas, which looks like its running on the C2 tyres.
Stopwatch
And Magnussen goes quickest in all three sectors for the best time of the day so far, 1m33.710s. That puts him over three seconds quicker than Sainz.
So the 2013 Formula Renault 3.5 champion is 3.5 seconds ahead of the 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 champion. Nice little symmetry there.
Sargeant is the first driver of the day to try the soft tyres, but they won't be thanking him after a hefty lock-up at Turn 10 which has left him with a rather pronounced flat spot on the left-front.
Only the three laps completed so far by Perez, whose Red Bull is receiving some attention to the underfloor in the garage.
Stopwatch
An improved effort from Hamilton, a 1m37.394s, keeps him third until Alonso hustles the Aston up to second on a 1m35.943s. He was on one of the medium compounds, we believe C3, still 2.233s adrift of Magnussen who locks up notably down at Turn 1.
Another improved lap from Hamilton, a 1m37.070s, pushes him ahead of Sainz to third.
Sainz is running mediums now too after his trial on the C3 Prototype earlier and whisks his Ferrari up to second on a 1m35.547s. Not in the same ballpark as the Haas yet - Magnussen electing to show his hand early at the scene of his celebrated F1 comeback last year.
Sainz makes a brief pit visit before doing a practice start at the end of the lane. He and Ocon are the only drivers out on track at the moment.
Oscar Piastri was two days away from his third birthday when F1 first raced in Bahrain back in 2004. On that day, Fernando Alonso finished sixth for Renault.
Stopwatch
Sainz now comes into the pits after pushing on his inlap, getting a big wiggle on as he exits the final corner. Meanwhile Ocon moves up to second on a 1m35.500s.
Perez has emerged on track now with flow-vis liberally applied to his Red Bull. The Mexican it appears has a set of the C3 Prototypes underneath him.
Stopwatch
It's a 1m34.952 lap for Perez, which slots him ahead of Ocon into second - but still 1.2s adrift of Magnussen's early gambit for Haas.
Stopwatch
Personal bests flying in all over the place right now. A 1m35.327 for Ocon keeps him third, while Alonso logs a 1m35.823 for fifth and Zhou a 1m36.206s in sixth.
Despite running the softs earlier, Sargeant is yet to post a lap on the board, Norris the same. Only in-out laps for the Williams and McLaren teams so far.
Stopwatch
Magnussen's time at the head of the leaderboard looked to be under threat as Perez set purple first and second sectors, but the Red Bull ends the lap 0.041s shy after a slightly scrappy final corner exit.
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If you're just joining us, Haas is so far reprising its role from 2022 as the quickest team on day two. But all the usual caveats still apply, as even the team's social media admin recognises.
Stopwatch
A 1m36.019s is Norris's first time on the board for the day and it puts the McLaren driver sixth, 2.3s off the pace thus far.
George Russell made headlines for comments ahead of the test that teams should be allowed to run two cars in testing to maximise mileage. But remember when a smattering of teams ran third cars on Fridays? Here's Robert Doornbos putting some V10 rubber down in the 2005 Jordan.
Our biggest memory of that 2005 weekend was the stellar job Pedro de la Rosa did as a stand-in for Juan Pablo Montoya at McLaren. Armed with a competitive car for the first time in an F1 career that had previously been blighted by middling to terrible Arrows and Jaguars, the Spaniard set fastest lap on an entertaining drive to fifth as Fernando Alonso won for Renault. Oscar Piastri was three days away from turning four.
Stopwatch
Interrupting our reminiscing, Sainz delivers a new fastest time of the day for Ferrari, a 1m32.653s. Three purple sectors put him 1.057s clear of Magnussen.
That time was achieved on the medium C3.
It's not much to write home about, but Tsunoda posts a new PB of 1m39.213 to stay ninth.
By: Autosport Staff
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