Mercedes and Red Bull’s new Formula 1 cars were hardly seen on the morning of the second day of testing in Bahrain.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Isack Hadjar spent much of the opening four hours at the Bahrain International Circuit confined to their garages. Hadjar spent the time waiting for Red Bull’s mechanics to fix a hydraulic leak on his car and only left the pits for a single installation lap moments before the lunch break began.

At Mercedes, Antonelli’s hopes of covering more than the 30 laps he managed yesterday were dashed by more trouble with the W17. He completed just three tours of the track.

Mercedes’ trio of customer teams ran more reliably, all covering more than a grand prix distance before the lunch break. However Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari beat the trio to the fastest time, half a second faster than Lando Norris in the McLaren. His 1’34.273 was also three tenths of a second quicker than Norris’s benchmark effort from yesterday.

Aston Martin managed more significant mileage than yesterday, though Fernando Alonso was the slowest of those who set times, nearly five seconds off Leclerc’s pace. Sergio Perez was slightly quicker in the Cadillac after causing a red flag with an early stoppage.

Bahrain test day two, part one times

Pos. Car number Driver Team Model Best time Gap Laps
1 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari SF-26 1’34.273 62
2 1 Lando Norris McLaren MCL40 1’34.784 0.511 64
3 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine A526 1’36.723 2.450 61
4 87 Oliver Bearman Haas VF-26 1’37.025 2.752 55
5 23 Alexander Albon Williams FW48 1’37.229 2.956 62
6 27 Nico Hulkenberg Audi R26 1’37.266 2.993 47
7 30 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 03 1’38.017 3.744 50
8 11 Sergio Perez Cadillac 1’38.653 4.380 42
9 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin AMR26 1’38.960 4.687 55
10 12 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes W17 3
11 6 Isack Hadjar Red Bull RB22 1

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and

Formula 1

Browse all Formula 1 articles