Bottas leads Day 2 of F1 testing as Mercedes finds its form

SAKHIR, Bahrain — It was finally back to business as usual for Mercedes on the second day of pre-season testing on Saturday, with the Formula One team overcoming its struggles and topping the leaderboard.

Valtteri Bottas found speed late in the session to finish .124 seconds ahead of AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and .171 ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll. McLaren’s Lando Norris was fourth fastest with Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi, who did 124 laps, placing fifth.

The outcome was a welcome relief for Mercedes after seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton lost the rear of his car and went off into the gravel in the morning, bringing out a red flag as the session was briefly halted.

The British driver ended the day with 58 laps completed, the same tally as Bottas, but he was down in 15th overall.

Mercedes had encountered unfamiliar reliability problems on Friday, with Bottas completing just six laps because of a gearbox problem and Hamilton in the unusual position of struggling to be competitive.

Charles Leclerc was sixth for Ferrari on Saturday while Sergio Perez was eighth for Red Bull, which had topped Friday’s first day through Max Verstappen.

McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, who clocked the fastest time on Saturday morning, fell down to ninth as the late-afternoon light faded.

Veteran Fernando Alonso, who has replaced Ricciardo at Alpine, looked comfortable on his return to F1 and was 10th quickest, completing 127 laps for the rebranded team formerly called Renault.

“We followed the program that was planned so that is good,” Alonso said. “But we need to sit down now and analyze everything. The car did feel good, but I think we still need to understand the characteristics of the new aero package a bit better.”

The two-time F1 champion is driving all season with metal plates in his jaw after fracturing his upper jaw following a cycling acciden t last month.

“I don’t expect any issues, honestly,” the 39-year-old Spaniard said. “I will have to remove two titanium plates in the upper jaw at the end of the season.”

TRICKY DEBUTS

Ferrari newcomer Carlos Sainz Jr. — who joined from McLaren — span his car in the afternoon, adding to his two spins on Friday. He finished in 13th place, sandwiched between Haas debutants Michael Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.

Aston Martin driver Sebastian Vettel, who had a torrid time in his final season with Ferrari last year, managed just six laps before a gearbox problem sent him back to the team garage.

The four-time F1 champion, whose last title was eight years ago with Red Bull, mustered just four more laps after that and ended the day in a lowly 16th.

There is a third and final testing day on Sunday.

The season starts with the Bahrain Grand Prix at the same Sakhir track on March 28. The scheduled first race of the season in Australia was postponed to November because of travel restrictions.

Testing has been moved from its traditional home in Spain and cut from the usual six days to three as F1 and the teams try to cut costs amid the coronavirus pandemic.


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