Formula 1 | Bahrain F1 testing, D2: Ocon in the lead, Mercedes continues the laps

F1 has already started the fifth of its six days of winter testing in Bahrain, with conditions much windier than they were yesterday. A day that did not have the same appearance depending on the teams.

Alpine F1 had a better half-day with a lot of running for Esteban Ocon, and the best time in 1’34″276 with C4 tyres. The Alpine A522 also sported its alternative livery with the entirely pink bodywork, with BWT colors.

Charles Leclerc confirmed Ferrari’s good form with over 50 laps and Ocon’s 0.090 second fastest lap. she sported a new floor.

Max Verstappen set the third fastest time of the session with just over 45 laps, and he was ahead of Sebastian Vettel. The Aston Martin F1 driver stopped on track and caused a red flag, but he was close to 50 laps.

Lando Norris is fifth but for McLaren the day felt like deja vu, with brake problems early in the morning. Disc cooling is a problem on the MCL36 and Norris has only done about 30 laps.

Yuki Tsunoda follows ahead of Valtteri Bottas, who also had a difficult morning with 25 laps and a mechanical problem at the end of the session. Mick Schumacher was able to drive with Haas F1 but there too, the kilometers were limited with 23 laps for the German.

Surprisingly ninth in the Mercedes W13, George Russell put in some serious work with 67 laps, making him the hardest-working driver on the track in the morning. The car seemed to be starting to lose its unstable quality from the day before, which the team had lamented.

Finally, at Williams, the morning was very complicated with only 12 laps for Nicholas Latifi. As at McLaren, the Canadian experienced a cooling problem in the rear brakes and these caught fire, which sent the car spinning with the start of a fire.

It is not certain that we can send the FW44 back to the track this afternoon on the side of Williams, while the driver had to continue his program.

Find the photos of the 2nd day by consulting our gallery here. The gallery will continue to be updated regularly until late tonight.