Bahrain F1 Testing: Hamilton leads rainy morning session on Day2

Hamilton was fastest in his new Ferrari on the morning of the second day of preseason testing as rain in the desert affected Thursday's session. The Briton racked up 45 laps.

The seven-time F1 champion's best time was nearly four-tenths of a second faster than his former teammate George Russell of Mercedes who managed a monumental 70 laps. Carlos Sainz, Jr. was third fastest for Williams with 44 laps.

Hamilton's time was also a second faster than the best lap from the first day of testing Wednesday, which was set by Lando Norris for McLaren. Times in testing often don´t reflect a driver or car´s true pace because of different strategies.

Pierre Gasly was fourth fastest in the Alpine having driven 40 laps and was ahead of Fernando Alonso who was fifth in the Aston Martin managing 45 laps.

Yuki Tsunoda was sixth fastest for the Racing Bulls with 46 laps on the board with Oscar Piastri seventh fastest in the McLaren, the Aussie lapping the Sakhir track 44 times.

Red Bull has an underwhelming morning for their second day of testing as Liam Lawson, on duty for the full day, was only eighth fastest in the RB21 with only 28 laps to his name. The team parked the car well before the end of the session with screens covering their garage suggesting major setup changes on the car ahead of the PM run.

Nico Hulkenberg was ninth fastest in the Sauber with 56 laps while Esteban Ocon was last but managed a healthy 69-lap haul for Haas.

Adding to the unseasonably cold conditions, the rare sight of light rain in Bahrain midway through the session was an extra complication for teams trying to learn more about their new cars.

Expecting dry conditions in the desert, only two teams - Aston Martin and Haas - brought wet-weather tyres for the test.

Testing continues later Thursday and the first race of the season is the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 16.

(The Associated Press, Additional reporting by GrandPrix247)