What we learned on day two of 2024 F1 testing in Bahrain

A tepid start to Formula 1's pre-season running (at least from an entertainment standpoint) had offered much in the way of tentative track action. But there were few surprises and even fewer typical testing interruptions on day one, bar a brief yellow flag for Alex Albon's wayward Williams, on the opening day.

Thankfully, the second day was a bit more eventful, which sounds oxymoronic next to the 40-minute loss of test time. Track repairs forced a hiatus in, and subsequent non-resumption of, the 'morning' session and forced teams to adapt and improvise with their run plans. The extended afternoon/evening running largely went without a hitch and even ended with a flourish amid a test of the safety car functions - a rolling start led to a brief dice between Valtteri Bottas, Lando Norris, Esteban Ocon, and Sergio Perez amid a shower of sparks. It was fun while it lasted.

If the cars looked uneasy during the opening day of testing, particularly in their box-fresh state, then they appeared more settled in the second batch of eight-hour exploration. The drivers continued their getting-to-know-you process with their new chariots, hoping to understand their quirks and intricacies to collect valuable intel for the season, which proved more conducive on a slightly more rubbered-in circuit.

Just one day of testing remains before the season kicks off in a week's time, in which we anticipate the usual last-orders flurry of glory runs once the final 'i's have been dotted and 't's crossed on the lengthy checklist of run plans around the grid. The competitive order largely remains masked as the teams have been careful not to show their full hands - but there are still plenty of strands that can be unpicked from the second day of testing.

A loose drain cover led to the morning session on day two being cut short

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Red flag pain in Bahrain caused mainly by the drain

"Not again," Fred Vasseur may have murmured to himself. A dislodged drainage grate at Turn 11 had produced a lengthy red flag and subsequent early end to the second day's morning session, having worked itself loose over the opening two-and-a-bit hours.

The drain cover was finally removed from its position by Charles Leclerc, as Ferrari endured a repeat of its Las Vegas practice nightmare. As it had done in Vegas, Ferrari had to change the floor of its car owing to damage. On the arrival of the red flag, thus began a series of repairs to the drain grating as track officials and marshals wielded angle grinders and welding materials to fix the issue.

As the lunch break was effectively kicked forward by the decision not to resume the session, the afternoon session was extended by an hour to make up for the lost running. This nonetheless proved disruptive owing to the limited testing time allowance, and teams shuffled their hands with regards to run plans.

Red Bull's plan to hand Max Verstappen the car for the afternoon was put on ice to allow Perez to continue into the afternoon. At Ferrari, Charles Leclerc remained behind the wheel for the first 40 minutes of that extended afternoon session, before handing over to Carlos Sainz for the rest of the duration.

"At the end it wasn't huge," Leclerc explained later to F1 TV. "There was a bit of a hole in the floor, which we had to change. But apart from that, no, I had no warning.

"I saw something, but I honestly it was so thin that I thought it was a plastic thing. And we see sometimes some of them are on the track, and we just go on them, and nothing is happening. But this time obviously it was metal so it hurt the car a little bit more."

Sainz led the way for Ferrari on day two

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Ferrari finds performance to headline second day

A satisfyingly palindromic 1m29.921s put Sainz on top of the pile on the second day of testing, giving Ferrari reason to be somewhat cheerful. Just before the midpoint of the afternoon session, Sainz had posted times in the mid-1m30s to sit on top of the timesheets with a run on the C4 tyres, later breaking the 90-second barrier long before the sun had started to slide behind the horizon. Of course, there are caveats to this: fuel load, as ever, remains unknown, while Sainz was imbued the grip of a tyre compound that will not be used in the Bahrain grand prix weekend.

Regardless, Sainz's efforts prompted Williams' Alex Albon to remark during his stint on commentary for F1 TV that "the Red Bulls and Ferraris are seemingly not affected by the wind, they just turn where they want to turn". One of the key traits that Ferrari has successfully been able to implement on its cars in recent years is great compliance over kerbs, granting its drivers the confidence to glide over the corners.

In yesterday's running, Ferrari explored a single-element beam wing as it seeks to understand the best rear wing configuration available to it. It bolted on the second element on Thursday, and the exploration of both settings will grant the team the opportunity to find the most valuable trade-off between all-out rear-end downforce and an enhanced DRS effect on the straights. There's still work to be done to fully recognise the SF-24's traits, but there's already an eye on getting the formula right for the season opener.

And, per Leclerc, the car feels a lot more encouraging on track. Last year's SF-23 had to straddle a precarious line in order to extract the most laptime from it, with that limit easily strayed over if the drivers tried too hard.

"In terms of drivability, the car is a lot better compared to last year," he told F1 TV. "But last year after the test, it was very, very difficult to push into a direction, because we just didn't know what the car was doing. We would get into a corner and we didn't know whether we will have extreme oversteer or extreme understeer, which was a big problem. This year, the car is not like that, which is a better starting point."

That said, there's a difference between having a benign handling car and a quick one - Ferrari must hope that its latest steed possesses both qualities.

Car issues for Perez halted Red Bull's superiority on Thursday

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Red Bull's smooth sailing briefly interrupted by choppy waters

Those hoping for a swift end to Red Bull's superiority over the past few seasons will have felt dejected by Max Verstappen's day one benchmark. The indications are that its sweeping changes over the winter to produce the RB20 have paid off once more, even if the team did not end the day in possession of the fastest time. A late charge from Perez ensured that he was firmly ensconced towards the top of the order, but the day did not come without difficulties.

While it was running, the car looked serene. It was at the notoriously tricky Turn 9-10 where the Red Bull appeared to be putty in the hands of Perez. The Mexican's hands were steady in coaxing the RB20 around the corner, never falling into the frequent trap of snatching the left-front as it unloads in the braking arc. And this was on C1 tyres: while the general pace was not up with the headline times, it suggested that the car requires very little taming in a race situation.

With about half an hour left on the second day's run-time, Perez posted a 1m30.684s on fresh C3 tyres to slot in 0.7s down on Carlos Sainz's best on a softer grade of Pirelli rubber. Although that might be somewhat ominous, Sainz's time was nonetheless set in hotter conditions earlier in the afternoon; Perez had a cooler track to strut his stuff. He improved again 10 minutes later by 0.005s, although the Red Bull looked slightly ponderous on both tours into the final corner; tilts at the wheel had to be augmented with further lock as the RB20 wanted to chew at the exit kerbs.

There were two flies in the ointment. After just 15 minutes, Perez had to crawl into the pits with a front-left brake problem, which was serious enough to require treatment and cost a chunk of running early doors. Later, the Mexican had slowed on the exit of Turn 13 and once again had to retreat for a garage check-up. The layoff this time was significantly smaller, however, and he was sent on his way out again seven minutes later. These should be minor testing glitches and Perez still managed 129 laps over the day, but it nonetheless gives Red Bull's engineers something to look into for Friday's running.

Although Red Bull has produced headlines with its new car, it has had to contend with the off-track discourse over Christian Horner's position in the team. The investigation into allegations over his conduct towards a female employee at the team remains ongoing and, with his appearance in the team principals' press conference, there was an air of inevitability that a question about it would be put to him. He declined to comment, stating that "as you're well aware, there's a process going on which I form part of. And as I form part of that process, I'm afraid I cannot comment on it."

"I really can't comment on the process or the timescale," he later added. “I think obviously everybody would like a conclusion as soon as possible, but I'm really not at liberty to comment about the process.”

Until the investigation delivers a result, the allegations will continue to loom like the Sword of Damocles above him - and, by association, the team.

A number of drivers found themselves making errors on day two in the windier conditions

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New machinery start to learn their lines

A sprinkling of dust atop the Bahrain circuit caused many a slip 'twixt cup and lip during Wednesday's running, as circuit grip came at a premium and caused drivers to take the scenic route at a variety of corners. Snatched wheels at Turn 9-10 proved frequent on the first day, but the majority looked far more agile on the second day.

The improved grip levels helped the new fleet of cars stay on the road at Turn 11 as the drivers could carry more speed into the medium-speed left-hander. That's not to say that there were no snaps in car behaviour, particularly as the windy conditions prompted drivers to react to any doses of understeer, but most were able to select their usual braking points on the approach to the bends.

It became apparent that the teams have found more confidence in running their cars lower compared to 2023, having made progress with the porpoising issues that plagued the first iterations of the contemporary ground effect formula.

There was a degree of bouncing present this year, but this was due to the cars skipping over the bumps on the main straight; the track surface in Bahrain has remained the same for two decades. The Mercedes W15 was the most keen to light up the night's sky with a peppering of sparks on the run to the first corner, the titanium skid block rasping against the asphalt thanks to the team's exploration of a distinctly low ride height.

Lewis Hamilton, in his first full day with the new Mercedes, was around 0.4s shy of Perez's second-fastest time having been dropped out of the runner-up spot by the Red Bull driver inside the final hour. The suggestions are that Mercedes still has a raft of work to do to close the gap to the front of the pack, but Hamilton's team-mate George Russell reported during his press conference appearance that the W15 that it was "not the diva that it was in the last two years".

"You can definitely tell from the very beginning if the car is an improvement and if it's nice to drive," Russell said. "And it definitely is an improvement. There's no doubt about that. But you could have the worst car to drive but if it's faster than everybody else, you'll be happy with it.

"So it was definitely pleasurable to drive yesterday. I had a good feeling within the car, but we know that all of the other teams have made a good step forward. And right now it's definitely far too early to say [where we stand]."

Norris showed well in the new McLaren on Thursday

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Russell's countryman Lando Norris also figured towards the top of the timing order having taken on McLaren's running in the afternoon, but his race simulations had been interrupted by a fuel tank issue. The team was able to fix the issue and reinstate Norris' presence on the track, although team principal Andrea Stella stated that it is in the process of identifying the crux of the problem.

After two dismal pre-season tests in 2022 and 2023, McLaren has enjoyed a more low-key time in Bahrain this year and has been studiously knuckling down with its run plans. Stella felt that the main problems that persisted with its much-upgraded 2023 car had been largely improved, but was keen to point out that was more progress in the pipeline at its Woking base.

"I think some of the weaknesses have been improved," the Italian explained. "For instance, we are I would say happier with the grip at the rear axle, which was one of the aspects that we wanted to work on. Overall there is more grip in the car. But there's some aspects that we still have some work to improve.

"The fact is that the major performance opportunity remains overall grip. It's not like you need to correct features, you just have to put more grip on the car, which mainly comes from aerodynamic performance. But we have some more margin to improve also from a mechanical point of view."

How will the pecking order look at the end of the final day on Friday?

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