Alfa Romeo's sophomore Zhou Guanyu sprung a surprise when he topped the time sheets at the end of the second day of Formula 1 testing in Bahrain, which came to an early end thanks to a red flag in the closing stages.
On the flip side, Mercedes had issues with Russell coming to halt in the W14 triggering only the second red flag of the two days this far. Earlier in the morning session, Lewis Hamilton was troubled with handling and setup issues; the pair ended 13th and 15th respectively
Notably, Guanyu targeted the fastest time by running the faster softer Pirelli tyres, which was more than what Max Verstappen mustered in his Red Bull but on harder compound; the reigning F1 world champion claiming the second-fastest time but, clearly, the Bulls have a potent weapon at their disposal in the RB19.
Verstappen did 47 laps in the afternoon after Sergio Perez got his first half-day in the new car and will be in it all day on Saturday, the final day of the one and only three-day test ahead of next weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix at the venue. The Mexican ended the day 14th on the timesheets.
A positive start for Alfa Romeo after last year's early testing shambles
At the top of the charts, Zhou also did impressive mileage during the course of the full day he was in the car, as teammate Valtteri Bottas sat out the day as his teammate recorded 133 laps, a feat only bettered by Williams rookie Logan Sargeant who amassed 154 laps after a solid and valuable day for the 22-year-old American, who was second quickest in the morning, ended the day seventh fastest. Alex Albon was not on duty and will be in the car for the final day.
Thus a positive day for Alfa Romeo, who last year had a woeful start to their campaign and paid the price deep into the season. This year it appears they have all the boxes ticked this time around.
Like yesterday, Fernando Alonso was quick, ending third in the Aston Martin, the Spaniard relishing the challenge that a more competitive car may give him, with 13o laps completed, it was a good day for Team Green; exactly how fast the combo really is, when everyone is on the same run plan and full gas, aka from Q1 on Saturdays, remains to be seen. Ditto Guanyu and the very fast Alfa.
Nyck de Vries was fourth quickest in the AlphaTauri with 74 laps ticked off, while his teammate managed 85 but ended the day slowest of all.
Comeback King Nico Hulkenberg was fifth fastest for Haas, completing 68 laps in what was an important day for the German. His teammate Kevin Magnussen was a second down in 11th.
After setting the fastest lap in the morning session, with Carlos Sainz tops, Ferrari kept their powder dry in the afternoon with Charles Leclerc not going for a hot lap, thus the Reds Finished sixth and eighth on the timing screens, the Spaniard a couple of tenths faster as they combined top added 138 laps to the SF23.
Rookie Oscar Piastri completed 74 laps on his way to the ninth-best time, with Lando Norris 16th with 65 laps on his chart.
After a low-key opening day in terms of lap times, Alpine again did not flaunt much, ending day two with Pierre Gasly in the top ten and Esteban Ocon 12th.
The final day of F1 testing takes place on Saturday, with the first FP1 of the Bahrain Grand Prix, the opening round of the 2023 F1 season, on 3 March.
Bahrain F1 Testing - Day 2 - Afternoon Session - Official Times
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Earlier in the day Sainz topped the morning session in which stewards also ran a systems check for the Yellow Flags, Virtual Safety Car, and also executed a practice race start towards the end morning session.
The second day of Bahrain F1 Testing did not feature any drama, as all the teams went on with their business quietly running their programs.
While Max Verstappen's best time from Day 1 was a 1:32.837, Sainz cut that down by over three-tenths of a second, registering a 1:32.486 as he accumulated 70 laps before Leclerc takes over after lunch.
Logan Sargeant was second fastest for Williams, the rookies 0.063s behind Sainz albeit on Soft tyres compared to Mediums for the Spaniard. Sargeant drove 74 laps before the break.
While it is still very early to judge, Aston Martin seem to have a better car in the AMR23, and despite their electronics glitch on day one, went on to do some decent running on Friday, Fernando Alonso third fastest in the morning, with a 1:32.969 while racking up 64 laps.
Zhou Guanyu was fourth fastest in the Alfa Romeo, and reported feeling more comfortable in the car on Day 2. His best time was 1:33.170 but only 43 laps of running.
Kevin Magnussen was fifth fastest in the Haas, 0.956s off the pace of Sainz, but with a decent lap count of 67, while Esteban Ocon was sixth, 0.048s behind the Dane only having driven 49 laps.
Sergio Perez was seventh fastest for Red Bull, his best time, a 1:33.751, while enjoying 76 laps of running around the Bahrain Internation Circuit.
Lewis Hamilton was 0.203s behind Perez in eighth, the seven-time F1 Champion experimenting with his W14 for 72 laps.
Mercedes still hiding some pace
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff admitted there is no concern, revealing they still have some pace within the W14.
He said: "The car is out of balance this morning and you can see that driving, we’re leaving black marks on accelerations. It’s hot and we just didn’t find the right setup for these conditions, which is part of the learning, I guess, with the new car.
"They (Red Bull and Ferrari) are fast. No surprise there. Everybody is playing around with fuel loads and there’s a little bit of hiding on engine modes, so you can’t really judge (who is quickest).
"We’re still hiding a little bit," Wolff concluded.
McLaren had a tough Day 1 of testing, as Lando Norris only drove only 40 laps, but by the end of the morning run on Day 2, the Briton drove 65 laps, with a best time of 1:35.522 which puts him ninth fastest.
Yuki Tsunoda was tenth fastest for AlphaTauri, with a 1:35.708, having driven the most number of laps, a respectable 85.
Bahrain F1 Testing - Day 2 - Morning Session - Official Times
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