Bahrain F1 Testing Day 2: Team and Driver Reports

The top time of the day went to Carlos Sainz Sainz on F1 testing duty on Thursday, with Williams teammate Alex Albon having Thursday in Bahrain to himself. The Spaniard will next drive when the season kicks off with FP1 for the Australian Grand Prix on Friday 14 March.

Reigning F1 World Champion Max Verstappen also sat out the day, as the Red Bull newcomer Liam Lawson got to grips with the RB21. He too will only drive the car again in Melbourne. All other eight teams had their drivers share duties today. Below is what they had to say.

Team Report: Today’s test took place in Bahrain but one could be forgiven for thinking it was happening at a European track. Not only was it cool, but there was even some rain. It arrived halfway through the morning and meant that almost all the teams, including Scuderia Ferrari HP, kept their cars in the garage for a while. Lewis Hamilton completed 45 laps (243 kilometres) before handing over the SF-25 to Charles Leclerc who racked up 84 laps (454 kilometres) making a daily total of 129 laps (697 kilometres).

P2. Lewis Hamilton: "It’s been another positive day for us in Bahrain. We’re making strong progress in understanding the SF-25 and learning how to get the most out of it, and the reliability is good so far which is a really positive sign. We didn’t get to do as much running as we hoped because of the weather, but we have more time on track tomorrow to work through our programme and to build even more comfort in the car. I’m really enjoying working with the team and we’re all looking forward to the final push tomorrow."

P2. Charles Leclerc: "It was more tricky today on track, because of what are unusual weather conditions for Bahrain, with cooler temperatures and even some rain. We ran through our planned programme, but with the conditions changing quickly, it was difficult to draw many conclusions. Tonight we are fully focused on analysing our data and preparing for the last day of testing tomorrow."

Team Report: Haas F1 Team drivers accumulated another 135 laps between them as Esteban Ocon picked up from where he left off yesterday to begin the second day’s running at Bahrain International Circuit, with Ollie Bearman later participating in his only afternoon session of pre-season testing.

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal: "There were tricky conditions out there today with intermittent rain, so we did the best we could. We largely carried on from yesterday’s program and made progress with Esteban this morning. In the afternoon with Ollie, we continued with some test items which we got answers for, which is great. Unfortunately, just before the end of the day we had a slight car issue, so we had to stop running 20 minutes before the end of the session. We’ll fix it tonight and get going tomorrow though. I have to say, today’s test items and run program – we completed around 80 percent so it’s not been bad. Tomorrow, we’re going to look at car balance on short-run performance in combination with race simulations.”

P18. Ollie Bearman: "It was another solid day with the wind dropping a bit, the track made a big step from when I drove yesterday so I’m happy to be back in the car. We made some good progress on race trim, and although there was a small issue at the end which I lost a bit of running with, we’re looking into it, and it should be fine for tomorrow. Yesterday it was hard to judge with the wind and the track being so green but now I have a bit of a better idea and I’m happy, it feels like a continuation of what I’ve felt over the years with the team, having driven the VF-23 and the VF-24. I’m still feeling very confident with how the long runs went today.”

P17: Esteban Ocon: "I’ve been experiencing it all today, with cold conditions, wind and rain. We stuck to the long runs, trying to work on our side with Ollie continuing that work into the afternoon. What’s very good is that we’re on the same page with what needs improving – there’s lots of positive as well – but it’s important to try and improve what’s needed. It’s a steep learning curve so early in the season but it’s been good so far and trouble-free. It’s been nice experiencing the car in proper conditions and working with the team on details. I’ve had my way of working and the teams had theirs, so we need to align and understand each other once I’m inside the car – and that’s what we’ve been doing.”

P7. Liam Lawson: "I am getting more comfortable in the car, it has been a busy day overall. As part of testing, we were fighting a few teething gremlins with the car through the day, it’s all about just learning about the new car. A few of our runs were cut short a little bit and we had to deal with the weather too, which wasn’t great timings for our run plan, as I imagine was the case for most of the pitlane. All this work is extremely valuable going into Melbourne and we feel in a positive place. This is all the most important stuff when it comes to pre-season, this will be the last time I drive the car before Melbourne, to get things right and we are going to take from all of it, to put together the best-balanced car for the first race."

Pierre Wache, Technical Director: "We decided to do a full day with Liam today, to continue to prepare him ahead of the season. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t great, with some rain at the beginning of the day, so we decided to do a race simulation, to get Liam up to speed with long runs and to check the car for general reliability across race distance. In the afternoon, our aim was to understand the car with the C3 compound and the set up options and to also explore the set up of the car in general. We had wanted to get a total insight into the car today, and understand its full direction, but it was also difficult to judge the performance of the car in these conditions and get a lot of the temperature on the tyres. But Liam responded well today and his feedback was very close to Max’s. We have good understandings to take into the final day of Testing now, with Max at the wheel.”

P13. Oscar Piastri: "A trickier day due to the weather. The temperature and rain made it harder to maximise our testing time in my session, but we were still able to work through a lot and achieve a decent amount. I’m looking forward to getting back on track tomorrow afternoon and hopefully pushing the car further to see what we can get out of it before we head to Australia. Overall, it was a productive day."

P14. Lando Norris: "Another productive day on track with good learnings. We were able to get a decent number of laps in with a long run, and I got the feeling of using some different tyre compounds. I think we’ve learned a lot from that, and getting the experience of doing the full race run was very valuable. Good feelings so far, we’ve now got one more day to go to make sure we end the week strongly."

Andrea Stella, Team Principal: "Another productive day of testing, despite the changing conditions. The brief periods of rain made it challenging at times this morning, which cost some track time for Oscar, but the team did a good job adapting our run plan accordingly. This afternoon, we focused a little more on longer runs, and overall, we have consolidated yesterday’s testing with further data as we learn more about the MCL39."

Team Report: Back on the track in Bahrain. Fresh from cockpit of our new F1 car, the AMR25, Aston Martin Aramco driver Lance Stroll reflects on the start to 2025 pre-season testing alongside CEO and Team Principal Andy Cowell as we round-up the opening two days of running at Bahrain International Circuit. Both Lance and Fernando Alonso shared driving duties at a cold, windy Bahrain International Circuit as they continued to get to grips with our 2025 challenger together with the team. Running 102 laps between them today, our testing total now stands at 190 laps.

Andy Cowell, Team Principal: "It's challenging for everybody here with the weather as it is. Gusty winds, a bit colder, and a little bit of rain this morning. We've all got our coats on. But we're making the most of it. We're getting the car out on track. We're learning with all the instrumentation we've got on the car. We've got a range of different mechanical set-up and aerodynamic set-up components that we're running through, and a team of people back in the factory on campus looking at that data and helping us analyse it and make the right decisions going forward."