Sainz fastest over Ferrari duo on second day

Carlos Sainz completed the second day of Formula 1’s pre-season test with the fastest lap of the three-day Bahrain event so far, overturning Lewis Hamilton’s time from the morning. 

The Spaniard went fastest with a 1m29.366s lap 30 minutes after testing resumed following the lunch break, and then found a smidgen more time at the end of the afternoon’s opening hour to set a 1m29.348s on C3s. 

This put him just 0.03s clear of Hamilton’s earlier benchmark, and then he survived a subsequent spin while indulging in a flurry of laps on the C4 compound. 

Although a minor spattering of light rain emerged before nightfall, this cleared and ultimately did not create as much disruption as the pre-lunch shower – which effectively took an hour out of the available running. 

After Sainz took control of the timesheets, there were scant few attempts to supplant him as the majority of teams opted for race simulations; the Williams driver himself took to a lengthy race stint on the C3 tyres rather than try to improve on his own benchmark. 

Lando Norris attempted to give his former McLaren team-mate a run for his money with a lap in the final 15 minutes on C3s, but could not capitalise on an impressive medium sector as he ran wide at Turn 14 and immediately made a beeline for the pitlane. 

This ensured Sainz remained top, and with the highest lap count – 127 – of anybody through the day. 

Charles Leclerc, who took over from Hamilton in the afternoon session, finished third having been half a tenth shy of his new team-mate. 

The Monegasque had a spin at Turn 14 while setting a more rapid set of times on his C4s, but ultimately carried on to collect a total of 83 laps for the evening.  

George Russell’s effort from the morning session remained good enough for fourth, a scant 0.006s clear of rookie team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli – who showed good speed but also endured a couple of excursions off-road as he continued to get used to the rigours of F1. 

Lance Stroll was sixth fastest over Liam Lawson, as Red Bull fixed the water pressure issue on board the Kiwi’s car that had restricted running in the morning.

Alpine duo Jack Doohan and Pierre Gasly were eighth and ninth, as Isack Hadjar completed the top 10 – the only driver to do their fastest time on C4s, rather than C3s. 

McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Norris were only 13th and 14th but, apart from Norris’s aborted lap, showed little in performance running – although the Briton’s race pace nonetheless appeared to be impressive. 

The Haas duo again propped up the order, having again spent the day focusing on longer runs. 

2025 F1 pre-season testing Day 2 results