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).
Live Standings
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Summary
Summary
Ferrari's Carlos Sainz sets the pace on Day 2 with a 1m29.921s (C4 tyres) posted in the afternoon session
Red Bull's Sergio Perez recovers from a technical issue to end up P2 on the C3 rubber, 0.7s adrift of Sainz
Lewis Hamilton ends up third fastest for Mercedes (C3), 1.1s off the benchmark pace
Morning session, topped by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, was red-flagged with 1h44m left due to a broken kerb and not resumed for track repairs
Leaderboard
Sainz, Ferrari, 1m29.921s, C4 - 84 laps
Perez, Red Bull, 1m30.679s, C3 - 129 laps
Hamilton, Mercedes, 1m31.066s, C3 - 123 laps
Norris, McLaren, 1m31.256s, C3 - 52 laps
Ricciardo, RB, 1m31.361s, C4 - 88 laps
Leclerc, Ferrari, 1m31.750s, C3 - 54 laps
Stroll, Aston Martin, 1m32.029s, C3 - 96 laps
Ocon, Alpine, 1m32.061s, C3 - 78 laps
Bottas, Sauber, 1m32.227s, C3 - 97 laps
Piastri, McLaren, 1m32.328s, C3 - 35 laps
Sargeant, Williams, 1m32.578s, C4 - 117 laps
Alonso, Aston Martin - 1m33.053s, C3 - 31 laps
Zhou, Sauber, 1m33.715s, C3 - 38 laps
Gasly, Alpine, 1m33.804s, C3 - 33 laps
Magnussen, Haas, 1m36.611s, C3 - 93 laps
Hulkenberg, Haas, 1m37.509s, C3 - 31 laps
Tsunoda, RB, 1m38.074s, C3 - 40 laps
11 Days
13 hrs
34 min
14 sec
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We'll have plenty of news and reaction from Bahrain coming to the website in the next few hours, so do keep an eye out. Thank you very much for joining us once again, and be sure to check in again tomorrow as we do it all over again. Until then, cheerio.
Before we bid farewell to you for the day, we would be remiss not to point out that the latest season of Drive To Survive will be available to view for Netflix subscribers tomorrow. Here is our full review of the latest offering from Box To Box Films, while Ben Edwards has spoken to producer Tom Rogers about the human focus he believes makes it a standout for sister title GP Racing. Plus subscribers can read that here.
What next then for the teams? Dinner perhaps, but there will be plenty o debriefing going on as they pour over the data from the day and feed back to base. The work of an F1 team doesn't stop when the flag comes out.
The day was of course disrupted earlier on by the drain problem, but starting the second session early made up for the time lost by the drivers who were only out in the morning. That factor explains why Hulkenberg and Alonso managed only 31 laps, rather than any serious technical issue of the kind that befell Williams on Wednesday.
Sainz then takes the glory for Ferrari with a 1m29.921s for Ferrari on the C4, beating Perez to the top spot with the Mexican clocking a 1m30.679s on the C3. Perez did complete the most laps of anybody, 129, with Hamilton in third next closest by that metric on 123 tours.
With one minute on the clock, that will be it then for day two of testing. Sainz top for Ferrari will be the headlines, but he was on a softer compound when he set his time than Perez in second.
All the cars are back in the pits now, and it seems this time that most are garage-bound. It doesn't look like we'll get any more laps in, let alone improvements.
The track all of a sudden looks rather busy with several cars congregated together after Hamilton led a dramatic-looking safety car restart simulation. That will have made the photographers happy at least.
Among the support races next week for the Grand Prix are usual staples Formula 2, Formula 3 and the Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East. But wouldn't it be fun to see Supercars join the fray too? This shot was taken in 2007, the second of three visits to the Gulf for the Desert 400, and wasn't on a GP weekend - hence the different circuit layout.
Hamilton's last lap was just two tenths slower than his personal best today. Norris meanwhile is circulating around six seconds slower than what he managed earlier on.
Compared to the McLaren he's following, Hamilton's Mercedes is producing a heck of a lot more sparks down the main pit straight. It certainly looks dramatic, but is riding lower also faster? We shall see.
Sainz has been sitting pretty at the top of the charts for a while now, but his position may soon come under threat if that last effort from Perez is anything to go by. Using the C3 (remember, Sainz's best was on the C4), the Red Bull driver moves back into second ahead of Hamilton, just seven tenths shy of Sainz on a 1m30.684s.
It's not a glory run as such but Ocon does improve to a 1m32.061, again with the C3. It shaves around a tenth off his previous best, but isn't enough to move him up a spot.
Will anyone else elect to follow Ricciardo's lead and try a soft-shod glory run in the final 40 minutes of the day? It's perhaps a little early to be thinking about qualifying simulations yet.
It has been confirmed that Sky F1 commentator David Croft will miss his first races this year since joining the broadcaster in 2012, when he steps back from three grands prix. He will be replaced by BBC Radio 5 Live commentator Harry Benjamin, who led Sky’s coverage on F1 Juniors last year, for the Emilia-Romagna, Austrian and Azerbaijan Grands Prix.
Meanwhile, slow-motion replays show Sainz's Ferrari porpoising down the straight and giving the driver a rough old time. Thankfully the phenomenon is rarer than it used to be, but it's unlikely to be fully eradicated under this rule set.
This time last year, you may recall that Stroll was in a race against time to make the first race after a cycling accident that resulted in wrist injuries. Felipe Drugovich got to take his place in testing, although didn't get the chance to race as Stroll recovered sufficiently to return to duty. The Canadian will be grateful of a much more straightforward pre-season this time around.
A bit of a heart-in-mouth moment at Turn 4 there as Bottas sent one up the inside of Stroll, who was having none of it and stuck it out around the outside. Bottas got a bit of opposite lock on, and thought better of teaching the Aston Martin driver a lesson at risk of contact. Plenty of time for that next week, chaps.
As Sargeant continues to truck on, we are reminded that he revealed during the Williams livery launch that he gained five kilos over the winter after a draining 2023 debut season saw him completely rethink his training approach. The American said he felt "much more healthy and much more ready to go". He continued: "I feel like a different man, I feel like physically I am in the best shape I've ever been". All of that will be paying off today.
