Red Bull hit the ground running this afternoon, topping the timesheets with Max Verstappen behind the wheel of the RB16B completing 139 laps at the Bahrain International Circuit.
Verstappen clocked the fastest lap at 1.30.626s, making up for the minor spin made during this morning’s session.
Day 1 of #F1Testing ✅ Max racks up 139 laps across the two sessions with a best time of 1:30.674 🇧🇭⏱ pic.twitter.com/CHrb2wQRGM
— Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) March 12, 2021
Mercedes continued to have issues following on from this morning’s gearbox failure.
After spending most of the morning in the pits switching out the gearbox, the world champions hit the track this afternoon, and after taking over from his Finnish teammate, Hamilton managed to complete 42 laps while struggling with pace and grip.
Ugh. Tricky start to #F1Testing today, with the early gearbox issue limiting VB's track-time.
Two days to go, lots of work to do. 👊
See you tomorrow, Team. pic.twitter.com/AXbLde7iUs
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) March 12, 2021
Lando Norris managed to land second overall for McLaren, and while his new Aussie teammate was at the top of the charts this morning, Ricciardo’s time-record fell to seventh-best this afternoon.
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon finished the day with the third fastest lap overall, running on soft Pirellis while Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll finished out the day fourth on the mediums.
Day 1 wrapped up, with 129 laps on the board and a cluster of pitstops.
👋 @OconEsteban (watch it till the end!)#F1Testing pic.twitter.com/Ekq7yT1ARI
— Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) March 12, 2021
Carlos Sainz made the most of his first jaunt in the SF21, finishing fifth, after taking over from his new teammate, Charles Leclerc, whose earlier time dropped to 11th by the end of the day.
Rookie Yuki Tsunoda, took ninth overall in the Honda-powered AT02, running just .5s off his teammate, Pierre Gasly, who came in eighth place.
the first day of pre-season testing is done and (heavily) dusted 😉 @yukitsunoda07 ends the afternoon session on 37 laps, bringing our total to 111 💪 pic.twitter.com/8nH7zlBYzD
— Scuderia AlphaTauri (@AlphaTauriF1) March 12, 2021
Nikita Mazepin took over from fellow Haas rookie, Mick Schumacher on track this afternoon and managed to complete 70 laps.
He finished 15th fastest, just one place ahead of Schumacher, who ran just 15 laps earlier today while the team also struggled with gearbox issues.
