Ricciardo tops the morning session on Day 2

F1 Test, Bahrain, Bahrain International Circuit

Just as yesterday, Daniel Ricciardo put his McLaren MCL35M to the top of the timesheets in the morning session of the second day of pre-season testing, followed by Alpine F1 Team’s Fernando Alonso.

The Perth-born driver continued where he left off yesterday by finishing fastest in the morning session of Day 2. Ricciardo completed 52 laps on his way to the fastest lap which was a 1m32.215.

Following two years away from the sport, Fernando Alonso made his return to Formula One, leaving a promising impression. The Spaniard completed 60 laps, recording the second fastest lap time on Pirelli’s C2 Hard compound with a 1m32.339.

Sergio Perez got behind the wheel of his new F1 car, the RB16B for the first time. While he spent the first part of the day in the lower part of the leaderboard, he set the third fastest time on the Hard compound in the closing stages of the morning session.

Nicholas Latifi recorded an impressive lap with a time of 1m32.541, ending up fourth fastest. Yuki Tsunoda racked up 57 laps in the first four hours of Day 2 of pre-season testing, making no significant mistakes despite the difficult gusty conditions at the Bahrain International Circuit.

Carlos Sainz contentrated on longer runs with the C3 Medium tyres, but he span again with his SF21, indicating that Ferrari still needs to find remedy to its problems regarding rear instability.

Following yesterday’s technical issues, Mercedes’ day got off in a perfect way with Lewis Hamilton racking up mileage with his new W12 fitted with a huge rake. The Briton then diligently notched up lap after lap, trying to make up for the lost time.

However, Hamilton span around Turn 13 with his car being stuck in the gravel trap. The incident triggered the first red flag period of the day. In the end, the 36-year-old racked up a total of 58 laps, ending up in P8.

It has been a tough day for Sebastian Vettel on his second official outing with his new team. While the Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team was dogged by electrical issues yesterday, the Silverstone-based outfit discovered a technical issue related to the Mercedey gearbox of the car.

The technical issue forced to the team to change the gearbox with the repair work taking almost the entirety of the morning session. The Heppenheim-born ended up last on the leaderboard with his best time being a 1m38.849, completing a total of ten laps.