Carlos Sainz Takes Ferrari to the Top on Day 2 of Bahrain F1 Testing as Magnussen Gives Haas a Pleasant Surprise

Kevin Magnussen, on his first-ever Formula One session since the 2020 Abu Dhabi GP, managed to deliver a stunning show by setting the fastest lap time of day 2 of pre-season testing in Bahrain. This is also seemingly Haas’ first non-interruptive and a rather successful F1 session of this year.

Behind the Danish racing driver, Carlos Sainz slotted his Ferrari yet again in the top 3. More interestingly, the Spaniard set his fastest lap time on hard tires and yet only ended up just over 0.3s behind Magnussen; The Haas driver recorded his own lap time on a set of softs.

However, the fact that Magnussen set his fastest lap time after the chequered flag leaves Sainz at the top of the timesheets.

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How the morning F1 session unfolded

Alpine was one of the quieter teams during the first pre-season testing in Barcelona with either of their drivers barely bringing themselves to the limelight with commendable lap times. Well, that has finally ended! Esteban Ocon topped the timesheets over the morning session of day 2 in Bahrain.

Prior to the Frenchman’s classy lap time of 1:34:246, it was Charles Leclerc yet again who ended up leading the pack, which has now seemingly become a routine. The Monegasque showcased absolute dominance over the rest of the grid only for Ocon to pip his fastest lap time by a mere 0.08s.

Nevertheless, another strong session for Leclerc, and most importantly, for Ferrari. However, all in all, an extremely disruptive session, with the marshals having to bring out the red flags more frequently than ever. The biggest incident of all unfolded with Nicholas Latifi as his Williams went up in flames.

Later on, there were several other red flags; once for Sebastian Vettel as he parked his Aston Martin in the middle of the track citing unknown reasons. And there was another red flag late in the session as the marshals had to clear out debris off the track.

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How the afternoon session unfolded

For the first time this year, a lot of drivers remained on the track, setting lap times, even after the chequered flag. One of them was Magnussen; although he completed a total of 60 laps, on paper, the number crashes down to 39.

Hence, Sainz claimed the top spot with a 1:33:532 followed by the defending champion, Max Verstappen. Behind the pair arrived with yet another strong outing for Aston Martin. It further looks like the British outfit could well be the underdogs of this season after having partially dominated the pre-season testing so far.

Lewis Hamilton claimed P4 ahead of Esteban Ocon and Charles Leclerc, the two drivers who had a successful morning session. Lando Norris continued to fill in for a sick Daniel Ricciardo.

And to add to McLaren’s woes, the recently loomed brake issues seem to be causing way too much hindrance to the team; despite having an entire day in hand, Norris only managed to complete a total of 59 laps. Hence, with just one more day to go, can all the teams rectify their flaws and place themselves in a comfortable position amid the impending Bahrain GP? We’ll know soon enough.

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