Day two of pre-season testing is halfway through, and the teams are truly making the most of their limited time on track ahead of the 23-race calendar kicking off in two weeks’ time.
This morning, teams have experienced more gearbox issues, a number of spins, and a red flag as they continue to put their 2021 contenders through their paces.
Two particular drivers who barely put a wheel out of place this morning were Alpine’s Fernando Alonso and McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, who spent the last four hours trading fastest times.
Ricciardo finished 52 laps during the session with the fastest time overall of 1:32.215s followed closely by Alonso, just .124s behind.
How quick?
Daniel: pic.twitter.com/158R06xrKS
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) March 13, 2021
Fernando managed to rack up 59 laps, a great run so far for the two-time champion amid his return to F1.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez had a few skittish moments during his 39 laps this morning, however, it’s clear there’s major speed in that RB16B, with a final time of 1:32.478, the third fastest lap of the day so far.
Nicholas Latifi completed 47 laps and landed the fourth-fastest run, which marks the highest we’ve seen this team rank in testing so far.
AlphaTauri rookie, Yuki Tsunoda, has had an impressive day so far, completing 57 laps in his AT02 and landing the fifth-fastest lap time so far today, followed by Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari, +0.857 off the pace.
Nikita Mazepin in the Haas, had a smooth-run, despite a near-miss with Hamilton this morning, and clocked the seventh fastest lap ahead of the seven-time world champ.
The session saw one red flag, after a Mercedes in the hands of Lewis Hamilton went off backward at Turn 13.
The big talking point of Saturday morning 👀
A spin into the gravel disrupted running for @LewisHamilton and @MercedesAMGF1, but they were back up and running soon after 👍#F1 #F1Testing pic.twitter.com/bmTXFa84YD
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 13, 2021
The world champion, who finished eighth-fastest this morning, tried to free his W12 from the gravel, but his rear wheels were too deep in the trap to return to the track – not an ideal outcome for the team who are playing catch-up after a number of issues stalled their schedule on Friday.
Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin experienced gearbox issues, resulting in a trip to the pits, and just 10 laps complete by the end of this morning’s run.
The AMR21 joins Haas and Mercedes in experiencing gearbox issues so far this weekend.
Here are the results of the day so far:
