F1 Bahrain pre-season test - Day 2
Minute by minute updates on the second day of the 2024 F1 Bahrain pre-season test
The 2024 F1 season has arrived with pre-season testing in Bahrain.
All 10 teams have completed their launches and are trying to use as much track time as possible to prepare for the new season during the three-day pre-season test.
With Red Bull coming off a stunning 2023 season when it won all but one grand prix, can any of its rivals take the fight to the defending world champions? Signs were ominous after Max Verstappen dominated the opening day of the test.
The Bahrain pre-season test will run between 21-23 February, with each day’s track action starting at 7am GMT (10am local time).
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Hamilton goes for a push lap but an oversteer moment on the exit of Turn 4 means he backs out of it.
In comes Norris and out comes Sainz who seems to be winding up for another fast lap. This is where the fun begins...
The Spaniard is green in sector one.
And purple again in sector two.
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And purple in sector three gives Sainz the fastest time - a 1m31.397s which leaves him more than three tenths faster than Ferrari team-mate Leclerc.
For those wondering, Verstappen's fastest lap from Wednesday was a 1m31.344s, so Sainz's best is only fractionally slower. With more than three hours left and cooler conditions to come, every chance we will see faster.
Anyways, while that was happening Norris, Hamilton and Sargeant have all headed back out on track.
No personal best sectors, though, for anyone so it seems like longer runs are the plan for teams at this stage of the day.
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And just as we say that Norris goes and sets a purple middle sector and green in the last sector to move up to second with a 1m31.622s. In our defence, he failed to improve in the first sector...
That time from the McLaren driver with the C3 compound leaves him 0.255s behind his old team-mate Sainz.
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Stroll is the latest to improve, setting a 1m32.029s as he moves into P4, again on the C3s.
The Aston Martin driver has logged 26 laps today so far to go along with the 31 that team-mate Alonso put in this morning.
Riding onboard with Norris for that lap and the bottoming out of his McLaren down the straight sounds more like the London Underground than an F1 car.
Albeit quicker and, at this stage at least, much more reliable. But enough about the diabolic transport system in the UK.
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Sainz goes quicker again! It's a 1m30.686s for the Ferrari driver, this time with the C4 tyre. That's the fastest lap from testing we've seen so far as we hit three hours to go.
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It's a new personal best for Ocon as well, who is still using the hardest C1 compound. A 1m36.117s leaves him P14.
There's a noticeable split in the times today from top to bottom, with Tsunoda the slowest runner from this morning. His time is currently 7.388s behind the best from Sainz.
Lap 80 for Perez as he heads back out, this time with the softer C3 tyre. Could we see the Mexican move to the top shortly?
Well what we thought was Perez winding up for a lap looks to be him struggling with a problem! The Red Bull is crawling towards the final corner.
He's still rolling but it seems to be the momentum of going down hill which is carrying him as he's doing 20mph according to the telemetry.
He's made it back to the pits but concerned faces from the Red Bull team. Is there hope yet for the rest of the grid that the RB20 might not be bulletproof?
Back on track, Sainz is winding up for another flyer with the C4 tyre.
No improvement in sector one, but purple in sector two for Sainz.
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And a new fastest lap - a 1m30.424s!
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Norris also improves on his personal best, lowering it to a 1m31.256s as he stays second. Worth stating, though, that he was on the harder C3 compound of tyre.
Well whatever the issue was, Red Bull has sent Perez back out. A quick fix, or will we see the same problem again?
There definitely still seems to a problem with the car stuttering as Perez gets on the power heading out of the pits.
But he's now seemingly up to speed as he heads onto what appears to be a flying lap.
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It's a green final two sectors as Perez posts a 1m32.438s to move into P8.
Sargeant heads back out to join the Mexican with everyone else still in the pits.
But Perez pits and Ricciardo heads out. A sign of things to come this year perhaps...
It's the C3 tyres for the RB driver as he weaves from side-to-side to generate some heat.
No improvement in sector one but it's green in sector two.
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And a 1m33.476s moves Ricciardo up to P11. So far, 37 laps logged for the RB driver.
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Problem solved apparently for Perez, who goes again on the C3s and moves up to P4 with a 1m31.773s.
Our grand prix editor, Alex Kalinauckas' view from trackside:
"Spent most of the afternoon outside Turn 13 - the only two cars not having a tough time here, even in the gustiest moments about an hour ago, were the Red Bull and RB. Don’t tell Zak Brown! Hamilton regularly sideways in the Mercedes, while Stroll, Norris and Sainz had to catch big snaps when the wind picked up." 
"Spent most of the afternoon outside Turn 13 - the only two cars not having a tough time here, even in the gustiest moments about an hour ago, were the Red Bull and RB. Don’t tell Zak Brown! Hamilton regularly sideways in the Mercedes, while Stroll, Norris and Sainz had to catch big snaps when the wind picked up."
Stopwatch
Another new fastest lap for Sainz. This time the Ferrari drivers breaks the 1m30s barrier, posting a 1m29.921s, again with the C4 tyre.
It leaves the Spaniard 1.335s clear of Norris in second. Surely it's only a matter of time before another top runner switches to the faster C4 compound?
A lull in proceedings with regards to lap time improvement, but currently eight cars circulating.
But here comes Norris again, green in sector one but still on the C3 tyre.
By: Autosport Staff
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