The second day of testing in Bahrain live!

Precautions in the Alps

Little news from Alpine: They also say the car was parked as a precaution after Ocon noticed something strange. There are no more details yet.

The session is now interrupted for over 15 minutes, so the last 1.5 hours are already up and running – except for Haas. Evening came in Bahrain and the floodlights started now.

It’s supposed to last three minutes.

New tires require a ‘different’ driving style

We use forced breaks to talk briefly about tires. Pirelli’s Mario Isola revealed that teams are still struggling to “find the right balance between slow and fast corner kicks.”

While drivers can push without problems in fast turns, in slow turns they “start to slip, both over the front axle and over the rear axle, depending on how the car is set up”.

You can find the full story here!

What was going on at Vettel?

Aston Martin’s Tom McCullough just explained to ‘F1 TV’ that Vettel stopped in the morning because he felt the ‘vibrations’. So not a loose wheel after all? Anyway, everything was fine in the car, then Vettel was able to drive right away.

It’s also unclear why Ocon was introduced. Did the Alps intentionally empty the reservoir? It could be, but it could also be another issue with the A522. So far it hasn’t been a bad day for the French with 103 laps and a P3.

The session is still suspended.

red flag

Okun completed lap 103, connecting the lap table with Tsunoda. Then, stupidly, he put up… a red flag.

Lots of brakes

We are still seeing some slowdown. It could have something to do with the wind. Norris explains that new cars are “still sensitive to the wind.” “I think it’s good that we found out now because it wasn’t stormy in Barcelona. So we noticed it [das Problem mit dem Wind] Norris said.

His full statement is here!

lap table

Tsunoda completed the race simulation and became the first driver to break 100 laps. In Ocon too, it should soon hit three digits. This is the current overview:

Tsunoda (103)
Akon (91)
Russell (67)
Verstappen (57)
Leclerc (54)
Vettel (46)
Norris (43)
outing (26)
Bottas (25)
Sainz (25)
Schumacher (23)
Hamilton (23)
Chu (21)
Magnussen (20)
Latifi (12)

Best new test time

Sainz belts on C4 tires and runs 1:33.532. That’s the best new time and a few tenths faster than yesterday’s Gasly. This was not surprising, because it is 5 pm in Bahrain, and therefore it is much colder than it was in the morning.

As yesterday, we see the fastest times in the second session. Let’s see if this is the end of the road. If there are still more than two hours on the clock, then in theory there is still a lot to do!

daily analysis

Important note on our behalf: Kevin Schoren and Christian Niemervall will report live today at 6:00 PM with their daily analysis. Formel1.de YouTube channel. do not miss!

different concepts

Do you remember some fans fearing that the new Formula 1 cars would be too similar? There can be no better evidence to the contrary than this video!

Verstappen engines

If you include the lunch break, Red Bull stayed in the pits for 2.5 hours. Now Verstappen is driving again. The lower body has been painted with some FloViz paint. Incidentally, Mercedes also backs down in the afternoon. Hamilton also drives, but twelve laps in 90 minutes isn’t really that much.

Meanwhile, the Stroll moves up to P2 with 1:34.0 on the soft tyres.

New record

Sainz runs 1: 33.943 on C3 tires. This is the best new time of the day, but it’s still a little slower than yesterday’s Gasly. But it also had the softer C5 tyres. Meanwhile, Tsunoda is heading for 100 laps. He is already at 94 and continues to seriously relax in his racing simulation.

#AskMST

Thomas wants to know: “If Mercedes is now testing a B version of the car, are they allowed to drive two different versions (on different weekends) during the season?”

Yes this is not a problem. If both options are compliant with the regulations, which it seems like at the moment, you should theoretically switch back and forth at every race.

Closing time for williams

We already feared that earlier with the fire: Williams can no longer drive today, and the team has officially announced that now. So make a meager twelve rounds today. A totally lost day. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we will be able to go at least several more kilometers tomorrow!

Magnussen drives

And now we officially welcome Kevin Magnussen back to Formula 1! The Dane is on his way and driving the first kilometers of his return. That means we only miss Williams and Red Bull in the afternoon, as we’re still rebuilding. Maybe we’ll see an update here…?

New problems in Alfa Romeo

While Zhou is now driving, Bottas has spoken to media representatives and revealed, among other things: “Many of the problems we had in Barcelona are now resolved, including porpoises.”

But there were “other problems” today. “But it wasn’t anything we couldn’t fix,” Bottas said. Is it good or bad that the problems were different from Barcelona…?

lap table

Zhou is also on the road now, so we are waiting for Haas, Red Bull and Williams. And times are also slowly changing, Stroll moved to P3 with a 1:35.4. Here is an overview of the paid courses:

Tsunoda (79)
Akon (71)
Russell (67)
Leclerc (54)
Vettel (46)
Verstappen (45)
Norris (34)
Bottas (25)
Schumacher (23)
outing (13)
Latifi (12)
Sainz (8)
Hamilton (6)
Chu (3)
Magnus (0)