Guanyu Zhou led Alfa Romeo to the top of the second day of pre-season testing in Bahrain after setting the fastest time on the softest Pirelli tyres in the afternoon session, with Max Verstappen finishing second for Red Bull.
Zhou switched to the softest Pirelli C5 tyres half an hour before the end and set the fastest time of the test 1:31.610 to clear Verstappen from the top by four hundredths after the reigning world champion took over the Red Bull RB19 from Sergio Perez.
The Chinese spent the whole day in the Alfa Romeo C43 and drove 133 laps while Verstappen and Perez drove a combined 123 laps for Red Bull.
After yesterday’s second fastest time for Aston Martin, Alonso was again near the top of the standings with the third fastest lap on C3 tyres, but six tenths behind the fastest Zhou, while de Vries finished fourth for AlphaTauri on C4 compound.
Hulkenberg took the Haas VF-23 from Magnussen in the afternoon and finished fifth on C4 tyres to push morning leader Sainz into sixth for Ferrari.
Sargeant completed an impressive 154 laps in the Williams, the most of any driver on day two, and finished seventh fastest ahead of Leclerc who completed a total of 138 laps with Sainz for Ferrari.
Piastri took over the McLaren MCL60 from Norris in the afternoon and set the ninth fastest time with a total of 139 laps for McLaren, with Magnussen finishing 11th for Haas to separate two Alpine drivers Gasly and Ocon who completed a combined 108 laps, second worst laps count behind Mercedes .
Mercedes drivers Russell and Hamilton finished only 13th and 15th, more than two seconds adrift, after Mercedes missed the final hour and a half due to a hydraulic problem that stopped Russell and stuck his car in fourth gear, causing the only red flag of the day.
That’s why Mercedes completed just 98 laps in total, the fewest of all, while Russell was more affected with just 26 laps completed in the afternoon. The end of the day was marked by two problems for Williams and Alfa Romeo – Sargeant and Zhou had technical problems while in the pitlane.
The last day of pre-season testing starts tomorrow at 08:00 CET.
DAY 2 RESULTS
1 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo C43 | Ferrari 066/10 | 1:31.610 | 133 |
2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull RB19 | Honda RBPT H001 | 1:31.650 | 47 |
3 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin AMR23 | Mercedes F1 M14 | 1:32.205 | 130 |
4 | Nyck de Vries | AlphaTauri AT04 | Honda RBPT H001 | 1:32.222 | 74 |
5 | Nico Hülkenberg | Haas VF-23 | Ferrari 066/10 | 1:32.466 | 68 |
6 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Ferrari SF-23 | Ferrari 066/10 | 1:32.486 | 70 |
7 | Logan Sargeant | Williams FW45 | Mercedes F1 M14 | 1:32.549 | 154 |
8 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari SF-23 | Ferrari 066/10 | 1:32.725 | 68 |
9 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren MCL60 | Mercedes F1 M14 | 1:33.175 | 74 |
10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine A523 | Renault E-Tech RE23 | 1:33.186 | 59 |
11 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas VF-23 | Ferrari 066/10 | 1:33.442 | 67 |
12 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine A523 | Renault E-Tech RE23 | 1:33.490 | 49 |
13 | George Russell | Mercedes F1 W14 E Performance | Mercedes F1 M14 | 1:33.654 | 26 |
14 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull RB19 | Honda RBPT H001 | 1:33.751 | 76 |
15 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes F1 W14 E Performance | Mercedes F1 M14 | 1:33.954 | 72 |
16 | Lando Norris | McLaren MCL60 | Mercedes F1 M14 | 1:35.522 | 65 |
17 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri AT04 | Honda RBPT H001 | 1:35.708 | 85 |