Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc set the quickest time on day two of FIA Formula 1 pre-season testing, beating McLaren’s Lando Norris by half a second, with Haas’ Oliver Bearman third fastest in Bahrain. 

Leclerc delivered his 1m34.273 table-topper early in the morning session and his Soft tyre time remained unbeaten for the rest of the day. Norris’ best time of 1m34.784 was also set in the first half of running, with many teams shifting to longer running in an afternoon session that was punctuated by three red flags, first for Valtteri Bottas who lost part of his Cadillac’s wing mirror, then for Pierre Gasly, who Alpine ground to a halt at Turn 1 and final for a procedural test at the end of the session.

With Bearman third on day two, fourth spot on the timesheet went to Mercedes’ George Russell. The Briton posted a best time of 1m35.466s and completed 54 laps in the afternoon session to put some gloss on an otherwise tricky day for the Silver Arrows, with Kimi Antonelli completing just three laps in the morning and failing to set a time as a power unit issue ruled him out of the running. 

While Mercedes only managed 54 laps all day, Norris headlined the running chart with the world champion posting a huge total of 149 laps by the end of the day. 

Behind Russell, Isack Hadjar finished in fifth place for Red Bull Racing. As with Russell, the French driver’s afternoon time put a positive spin on the day for the Austrian outfit after the RB21 completed a single lap in the morning being sidelined by a hydraulic leak. 

Sixth place in the session went to Gabriel Bortoleto whose 67 laps at the wheel of the Audi R26 resulted in a best time of 1m36.670s. He was followed by Gasly who, despite his red flag moment, managed 97 laps for Alpine. Valtteri Bottas was eight-quickest for Cadillac as the new team posted a total of 109 laps on a day of split driving. Alex Albon took P9 for and the top-10 order was rounded out by Audi driver Nico Hulkenberg.

FIA Formula 1 Pre-Season Testing, Bahrain 1 – Day 2
1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1m34.273s 139
2 Lando Norris McLaren 1m34.784s 149
3 Oliver Bearman Haas 1m35.394s 130
4 George Russell Mercedes 1m35.466s 54
5 Isack Hadjar Red Bull Racing 1m36.561s 87
6 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1m36.670s 67
7 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1m36.723s 97
8 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac 1m36.824s 67
9 Alexander Albon Williams 1m37.229s 62
10 Nico Hulkenberg Audi 1m37.266s 47
11 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls 1m37.470s 83
12 Carlos Sainz Williams 1m37.592s 69
13 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1m38.017s 50
14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1m38.248s 98
15 Sergio Perez Cadillac 1m38.653s 42
16 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes No time 3