Carlos Sainz accomplished the second day of Method 1’s pre-season check with the quickest lap of the three-day Bahrain occasion to this point, overturning Lewis Hamilton’s time from the morning.
Sainz went quickest with a 1m29.366s lap half-hour after testing resumed following the lunch break, after which discovered a smidgen extra time on the finish of the afternoon’s opening hour to set a 1m29.348s on C3s.
This put him simply 0.03s away from Hamilton’s earlier benchmark, after which the Spaniard survived a subsequent spin whereas indulging in a flurry of laps on the C4 compound.
Though a minor spattering of sunshine rain emerged earlier than dusk, this cleared and in the end didn’t create as a lot disruption because the pre-lunch bathe – which successfully took an hour out of the obtainable working.
After Sainz took management of the timesheets, there have been scant few makes an attempt to supplant him as the vast majority of groups opted for race simulations; the Williams driver himself took to a prolonged race stint on the C3 tyres fairly than attempt to enhance on his personal benchmark.
Lando Norris tried to present his former McLaren team-mate a run for his cash with a lap within the closing quarter-hour on C3s, however couldn’t capitalise on a formidable medium sector as he ran large at Flip 14 and instantly made a beeline for the pitlane.
Lando Norris, McLaren
Picture by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Photos
This ensured Sainz remained high, and with the best lap rely – 127 – of anyone by the day.
Charles Leclerc, who took over from Hamilton within the afternoon session, completed third, half a tenth shy of his new team-mate. The Monegasque had a spin at Flip 14 whereas setting a extra fast set of occasions on his C4s, however in the end carried on to gather a complete of 83 laps for the night.
George Russell’s effort from the morning session remained ok for fourth, a scant 0.006s away from rookie team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who confirmed good pace but in addition endured a few excursions off-road as he continued to get used to the rigours of F1.
Lance Stroll was sixth quickest over Liam Lawson, as Purple Bull mounted the water stress subject onboard the Kiwi’s automobile that had restricted working within the morning.
Alpine duo Jack Doohan and Pierre Gasly had been eighth and ninth, as Isack Hadjar accomplished the highest 10 – the one driver to do their quickest time on C4s, fairly than C3s.
McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Norris had been solely thirteenth and 14th however, other than Norris’s aborted lap, confirmed little in efficiency working – though the Briton’s race tempo nonetheless seemed to be spectacular.
The Haas duo once more propped up the order, having once more spent the day specializing in longer runs.
2025 F1 pre-season testing Day 2 outcomes
Images from the Bahrain Pre-Season Testing – Day 2
On this article
Jake Boxall-Legge
Method 1
Carlos Sainz
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