The has just ended Second day of testing in Bahrain and compared to the yesterday we can already understand the forces a little better. In fact, if in the morning it was Hamilton su Ferrari the best time in the afternoon was set by the Papaya car Lando Norris to register a formidable race pace.
Lewis Hamilton leads in the morning
The first part of the tests was marked by the weather conditions, with cool temperatures e occasional rain which made the session particularly challenging.
When the rain was heaviest solo Aston Martin e Haas were able to run. In fact, these are the only two teams to have the tyres intermediate and full wet to be able to test in these conditions. Meanwhile, the others remained in the pits to make some changes to their cars.
When the weather allowed, everyone started to take to the track and at the end of the first session of the second day of testing in Bahrain it was Hamilton with the Ferrari to set the best time in 1:29.379. The new driver from Maranello seems to have settled in quickly with his new single-seater! After him, his former teammate Russell who, driving the Mercedes, stops the clock in 1:29.778. Closing the top 3 Sainz with Williams in 1:30.090. Finally in fourth and farm position we find respectively gasly e Alonso.
Another episode to remember is the slight collision between Oscar piastri e Nico Hulkenberg at Turn 8, but both drivers were able to continue without significant damage.
Problems at Red Bull, however, as Lawson was only able to complete 28 laps due to malfunctions in the cooling or power unit.
Lando Norris has a devastating pace in the afternoon
The afternoon session saw Carlos Sainz set the best time with 1:29.348, Followed by Lewis Hamilton e Charles Leclerc. The Spanish driver also spun at turn 1. Closing out the top 5 Max Verstappen e Esteban Ocon
However, the most noteworthy aspect of this second day of testing in Bahrain is the great race pace di Lando Norris than with his McLaren He completed 57 laps demonstrating how this car is very strong both in curve travel that on rubber degradation. In fact, in the last stint the British driver went on the 32,5 proving to have a race pace 1 second better than the leader of this Grand Prix last year, Max Verstappen.
Immediately behind we find the Leclerc's FerrariThe Monegasque driver set the fastest time 33,5 but compared to Norris in the third stint he mounted a harder compound. Unlike McLaren, however, it is assumed that the Maranello team had a higher fuel load.
At the end of the day all the teams tried to extract the maximum from their cars through different action plans and therefore the drivers' track times remain to be taken with a pinch of salt and are not a real indicator of the performance of the cars. Despite this we can already observe that the performance of Ferrari, Mercedes and Ferrari are very similar and therefore we expect a very hard fought championship. While among the top teams, Red Bull seems to be in slightly more difficulty.
Could Norris and his McLaren be the highest paid driver at Fanta F1 this year? We'll find out at the end of the test sessions when all the odds will be published on the YawClub app.
Meanwhile, the appointment is tomorrow morning at 8:00 for the last day of testing.
