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Formula 1 Bahrain February Testing

F1 Bahrain pre-season test - Day 2

Minute by minute updates on the second day of the 2023 F1 Bahrain pre-season test

Pierre Gasly, Alpine A523, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB19

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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A right-front lock up for Sargeant down at Turn 1 sends the Williams man straight on into the dusty run-off area on his C2 rubber.
Alonso, Sargeant and Tsunoda are the only drivers currently out on track, and the Williams man now moves above the AlphaTauri to ninth on a 1m37.844s.
After setting the second-fastest time yesterday, Alonso is back in the same position after a 1m33.278s lap on the C3s. The Aston driver is set to complete the full day of running in Lance Stroll's absence and is going about his business as methodically as you'd expect of a three-time Bahrain GP winner.
Sargeant meanwhile continues to improve, and logs a 1m35.802s lap to move him up to sixth in the Williams ahead of Norris's McLaren.
We've not seen anybody locking up and going off at Turn 10 for a little while, but the drivers can take solace from the fact that it's been a magnet for tyre-killing for as long as the circuit has hosted F1. Here's Tiago Monteiro punishing his Bridgestones in the unweildy Midland (nee Jordan) in 2006.

 

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Up to fifth place now pops Zhou Guanyu in the Alfa, a 1m34.764s slots him ahead of Ocon albeit 2.1s off Sainz's leading pace.
With my first stint at the live wheel now concluded, I'll hand over to the capable hands of Autosport editor Haydn Cobb. Over to you!
Thank you James, I've enjoyed the 2000s F1 flashbacks so far this morning. Back to the present day and Sargeant is adapting well to life as an F1 driver, getting into his run plan for the morning at Williams.
Given the stable regulations and engine rules which, let's be honest, have been around for ages it isn't a surprise teams have been running without many issues. But one red flag after over a full day of running has got to be some kind of record.

If you are just catching up on F1 pre-season testing or maybe missed what happened yesterday, here's a handy video to get you up to speed. Alex Kalinauckas joined Martyn Lee last night to discuss the opening day of action.

 
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Sainz has chipped away at the best lap time with a 1m32.486s to return Ferrari to the top of the leaderboard.
Norris on the C2s is the next to make a minor improvement with a 1m35.528s to put McLaren seventh in the morning times. It has been a solid start to the day for the Woking squad, having been one squad on the back foot yesterday.
Tsunoda leads the lap count chart (31) but is bottom of the best lap times despite a gain with a 1m37.928s. He's taking the Dom Sibley approach, a quiet accumulation.
Norris catches a snap through Turn 12 but has to go off track and back out of the lap.

Hamilton and Zhou are both on the Pirelli prototype compound completing short stints and pitting intermittently.

Photo

Penny for your thoughts, Fred?

Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal and General Manager, Scuderia Ferrari

Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal and General Manager, Scuderia Ferrari

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

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Zhou breaks the Spanish stronghold at the top of the time by taking second with a 1m33.170s for Alfa Romeo.
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Ocon, on the C3s, is going well for Alpine this morning and he pops up to fourth with a 1m33.490s.
A few cars have been spotted dropping bits of bodywork over the kerbs in testing. The Alfa Romeo is the latest to lose a small part, shortly followed by the AlphaTauri when Tsunoda went over the big bump at the end of the main straight.
Mercedes is also completing running repairs, as mechanics equipped with gaffer tape get to work underneath the W14. Their work gets the attention of Peter 'Bono' Bonnington, who sticks his head under the car for a closer look. Hopefully the mechanics asked him: "You too?"
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Hamilton, in the tape-aided Mercedes, has traded his prototype compound tyres for C3s on his latest run and improves with a 1m34.178s to go seventh.
The tyre of choice for most teams has been ranged between the C2s and C3s so far and not much show for the softer, red-walled rubber. Given we are approaching halfway through testing already, this evening the quicker tyres should get a run out.
It is time for our next baton pass, so to take you through the next phase of testing action is Lewis Duncan. Enjoy!
Thank you, Haydn. Let's talk about flow-vis paint and speculate about what teams might be up to right now for the final couple of hours of the first session.
Currently we've got Fernando Alonso out on track in the Aston Martin, Sergio Perez in the Red Bull, Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes and AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda on track.
Alonso completes his 27th lap of the day so far on that run, but has backed off. The Spaniard has been looking good in the Aston this week.
Logan Sargeant has returned to the track in the Williams to continue his adaptation to F1. He's currently eighth on the timesheets as he completes this outlap.
Stopwatch
Sargeant, on the prototype C3 tyre, has moved up to seventh with a 1m34.084s.
Alonso comes back into pitlane having completes 29 laps so far. No improvement in lap time, though.
Meanwhile, at Ferrari, a focused looking Carlos Sainz is being strapped into his car and is being readied for a run.
Tsunoda is clearly on a high-fuel run, as his recent effort was close to seven seconds off the pace. Down at Turn 10, Perez locked up his C2 tyres and ran wide.
Ferrari tops the speed charts at the moment at 202mph. I'm in no way technically minded, but I'd say that's pretty fast.
Seems like most are working on high fuel running right now as lap times aren't improving. Sainz, Alonso, Magnussen, Perez, Norris, Tsunoda on track currently.
Alonso is bucking the trend and is on a push on the C2 tyres.
Stopwatch
Alonso goes second with a 1m32.969s, 0.483s off Sainz's best lap.

Having fun out there, Fernando?

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR23

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR23

With 90 minutes remaining in the first session of day two, we're watching Lewis Hamilton pushing his Mercedes but not on a particularly quick lap.
Stopwatch
Hamilton stays eighth with a 1m34.094s.
Some say Pirelli tyres live in fear of Logan Sargeant, who had a massive lock-up into Turn 10 a few moments ago on his very tired looking C3 prototypes.
Sargeant ends his latest run having put in his 50th lap of the session.

By: Autosport Staff

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