F1 Bahrain Test, Day 2: Sainz leads Ferrari duo

Carlos Sainz completed the second day of Formula 1’s pre-season test with the fastest lap of the three-day Bahrain event so far, overturning Lewis Hamilton’s time from the morning. 

Sainz went fastest with a 1m29.366s lap 30 minutes after testing resumed following the lunch break, and then found a smidgen more time at the end of the afternoon’s opening hour to set a 1m29.348s on C3s. 

This put him just 0.03s clear of Hamilton’s earlier benchmark, and then the Spaniard survived a subsequent spin while indulging in a flurry of laps on the C4 compound. 

Although a minor spattering of light rain emerged before nightfall, this cleared and ultimately did not create as much disruption as the pre-lunch shower – which effectively took an hour out of the available running. 

After Sainz took control of the timesheets, there were scant few attempts to supplant him as the majority of teams opted for race simulations; the Williams driver himself took to a lengthy race stint on the C3 tyres rather than try to improve on his own benchmark. 

Lando Norris attempted to give his former McLaren team-mate a run for his money with a lap in the final 15 minutes on C3s, but could not capitalise on an impressive medium sector as he ran wide at Turn 14 and immediately made a beeline for the pitlane. 

This ensured Sainz remained top, and with the highest lap count – 127 – of anybody through the day. 

Charles Leclerc, who took over from Hamilton in the afternoon session, finished third, half a tenth shy of his new team-mate. The Monegasque had a spin at Turn 14 while setting a more rapid set of times on his C4s, but ultimately carried on to collect a total of 83 laps for the evening.  

George Russell’s effort from the morning session remained good enough for fourth, a scant 0.006s clear of rookie team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who showed good speed but also endured a couple of excursions off-road as he continued to get used to the rigours of F1. 

Lance Stroll was sixth fastest over Liam Lawson, as Red Bull fixed the water pressure issue onboard the Kiwi’s car that had restricted running in the morning.

Alpine duo Jack Doohan and Pierre Gasly were eighth and ninth, as Isack Hadjar completed the top 10 – the only driver to do their fastest time on C4s, rather than C3s. 

McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Norris were only 13th and 14th but, apart from Norris’s aborted lap, showed little in performance running – although the Briton’s race pace nonetheless appeared to be impressive. 

The Haas duo again propped up the order, having again spent the day focusing on longer runs. 

2025 F1 pre-season testing Day 2 results

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Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	Tyres	km/h
1	C. SainzWilliams	55		Williams	Mercedes	127	1’29.348			218.059
2	L. HamiltonFerrari	44		Ferrari	Ferrari	45	+0.031 1’29.379	0.031		217.984
3	C. LeclercFerrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	83	+0.083 1’29.431	0.052		217.857
4	G. RussellMercedes	63		Mercedes	Mercedes	71	+0.430 1’29.778	0.347		217.015
5	A. AntonelliMercedes	12		Mercedes	Mercedes	87	+0.436 1’29.784	0.006		217.000
6	L. StrollAston Martin Racing	18		Aston Martin	Mercedes	57	+0.881 1’30.229	0.445		215.930
7	L. LawsonRed Bull Racing	30		Red Bull	Honda	91	+0.904 1’30.252	0.023		215.875
8	J. DoohanAlpine	7		Alpine	Renault	80	+1.020 1’30.368	0.116		215.598
9	P. GaslyAlpine	10		Alpine	Renault	40	+1.082 1’30.430	0.062		215.450
10	I. HadjarRacing Bulls	6		RB	Honda	94	+1.327 1’30.675	0.245		214.868
11	F. AlonsoAston Martin Racing	14		Aston Martin	Mercedes	45	+1.352 1’30.700	0.025		214.809
12	Y. TsunodaRacing Bulls	22		RB	Red Bull	46	+1.445 1’30.793	0.093		214.589
13	O. PiastriMcLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	44	+1.473 1’30.821	0.028		214.523
14	L. NorrisMcLaren	4		McLaren	Mercedes	77	+1.534 1’30.882	0.061		214.379
15	G. BortoletoSauber	5		Sauber	Ferrari	80	+1.709 1’31.057	0.175		213.967
16	N. HulkenbergSauber	27		Sauber	Ferrari	56	+2.109 1’31.457	0.400		213.031
17	E. OconHaas F1 Team	31		Haas	Ferrari	69	+3.723 1’33.071	1.614		209.336
18	O. BearmanHaas F1 Team	87		Haas	Ferrari	66	+5.024 1’34.372	1.301		206.451
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