Bahrain Testing - Day 2

The second day of testing built up on the data gathered over the first one, filled with setups, aero-rakes, and flo-vis paint. This time, two teams decided not to split the runtime between their two drivers, and instead let one of them take to the track for the full 8 hours. Lawson and Sainz were both set to spend the day in their Red Bull and Williams respectively, while their teammates enjoyed a break from testing. In the morning, the two were joined on track by Piastri, Hamilton, Russell, Alonso, Gasly, Ocon, Tsunoda, and Hulkenberg.

All throughout yesterday's session we heard warnings about the, already chilly and overcast weather, worsening for the second day of testing. They seemed to come true as from the very beginning of the first session, slight drizzle could be seen all over the track. At that point, it wasn't intrusive enough to mess with the training, but threatened to increase as time went on, so the ten cars were rather quick to begin their runs on hard and medium compounds. Still, the engineers had to keep in mind that it wouldn't be easy to compare the data collected over the two days, due to the change in conditions between them. 

After around an hour and a half, the rain did increase, forcing the drivers to temporarily head to their garages. While this wasn't an ideal situation for any of the teams, one found a way to benefit from the unfavorable conditions. Only Haas and Aston Martin opted to take intermediate tries as one of their testing compounds, and Esteban Ocon took full advantage of them as he headed out onto the empty track and completed a few laps in the rain. Of course, the data gathered from them won't help set up the team's 2025 contender, but it might show how it behaves on a wet track. 

After Ocon returned to the Haas garage, it took a while for any of the other drivers to return to the track. A few minutes after the halfway point, Russell drove out once more, with the rest following soon after. For a while things ran smoothly and then, for the first time this season, two cars made contact. Hulkenberg went wide in one of the turns to make space for Piastri to overtake him, but a combination of him trying to come back onto the racing line a split second too early and Piastri going a bit too deep into the corner, led to their cars touching. The incident wasn't severe, but the McLaren driver quickly pitted to check the damage. 

The morning session ended with various FIA tests like a mock VSC (virtual safety car) period, a practice abort start, and a practice standing start. Hamilton managed the fastest time out of the bunch with a 1:29:379. In a somewhat poetic moment, the rest of the "top three" was made up by Russell, his past teammate, and Sainz, the man he replaced in Ferrari. 

Sainz and Lawson stayed on for the afternoon session and were joined by Norris, Leclerc, Antonelli, Stroll, Doohan, Bearman, Hadjar, and Bortoleto. The threat of rain still loomed over the drivers' heads, with some reporting a "decent amount" of it already on track. For a while, it seemed like it wasn't impacting the cars, but when both Sainz and Leclerc spun after losing their rears, it became clear that it shouldn't be taken quite so lightly. 

The track cleared out for a while as the drizzle continued, but the break in testing wasn't nearly as long as it had been in the morning. Soon enough weather improved, and the teams were back to their regularly scheduled programming. By that point, the sun had already begun setting, providing an opportunity to test the 2025 contenders underneath the artificial lights.

Once again, the session ended with FIA-mandated tests. Sainz finished the day with the quickest time of all (1:29:348), with the two Ferraris close behind. As one of the only two drivers to participate in the whole day of testing, he also completed the most laps, totaling at 127. Only one day, perhaps the most important one, of testing remains. Until tomorrow.