McLaren top midway through day two of Bahrain test, Ferrari hits more trouble
McLaren’s Lando Norris led the first session of day two at the Bahrain F1 test
Reigning Formula 1 world champion Lando Norris led the first session of day two of the Bahrain test, as Ferrari encountered more technical dramas.
Following a first test in Bahrain where it appeared to be bulletproof, Ferrari has been faced with several problems so far this week.
After Lewis Hamilton missed a lot of running on Wednesday afternoon due to an issue, a chassis problem on Thursday limited him to just five laps.
The Ferrari driver still turned heads in that brief stint, however, after running an upside-down rear wing flap.
McLaren enjoyed a smooth first session on Thursday, with Lando Norris taking over top spot inside the opening hour with a 1m33.453s.
That time would keep the British driver top of the pile when the session was brought to an early end with 10 minutes to go in order for more practice starts to be carried out.
Follow Live: Bahrain F1 test two, day two
Norris led Max Verstappen in the Red Bull, who posted a 1m33.584s and completed more than 50 laps.
Wednesday pacesetter George Russell was third in the Mercedes, after completing the most mileage of anyone at 77 laps.
He was 0.658s off the pace as he looked to prioritise long running, while Williams’ Alex Albon was fourth on a 1m35.130s.
Aud’s Gabriel Brotoleto was fifth, while Haas’ Ollie Bearman completed the top six from Alpine’s Franco Colapinto.
Liam Lawson’s running in the Racing Bull was limited to just under 30 laps, as he registered the lowest tally other than Hamilton and Ferrari.
Hamilton did come out before the lunch break to take part in the practice start procedure.
Fernando Alonso completed 40 laps in the Aston Martin, with Hamilton and Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas rounding out the top 11.
Cadillac didn’t send Bottas out until around 90 minutes into the session, which the Finn stuck in the garage for a while longer after an initial installation lap.
Bottas did manage 57 laps, albeit 6.7s off the pace.
Testing continues on Thursday in Bahrain from 12pm GMT.
