FP2 in Bahrain has come to a close, and so too has day one of the 2021 season.
This evening’s cooler climate gave the teams a taste of what conditions will be like ahead of Qualifying tomorrow under the floodlights in Bahrain.
It started well for Red Bull this morning, with Max Verstappen clocking the fastest lap, and once again the 23-year-old clinched the fastest round this afternoon.
McLaren’s Lando Norris is a force to be reckoned with in his MCL35M and finished out this afternoon’s run in P2, ahead of his Aussie teammate, Daniel Ricciardo in P6.
Mercedes looked to be struggling once again, ending FP2 with Hamilton in third and Bottas in fifth, who described the car as “undriveable” as he entered the pits at the close of practice.
Halfway through FP2 this afternoon, there were just 0.9s separating first and 14th on the timesheets, showing how the pack has closed up even further for a very interesting 2021 ahead.
Highlights
Raikkonen led the pack out of the pits this afternoon, with the track temperature cooling off by a hefty 15 degrees since this morning marking a significant change in conditions.
The Alfa Romeo driver had an off at turn two early on this afternoon, sending him to the pits for a serious repair job, and finished out the afternoon in P16.
Meanwhile his teammate, Antonio Giovinazzi managed to finish slightly higher up the order in P12 after crossing the line at 1:31.740.
Day 1 completed ✔️
GIO – P13
RAI – P16#BahrainGP 🇧🇭 pic.twitter.com/lSMp2r1JRs— Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN (@alfaromeoracing) March 26, 2021
Nikita Mazepin had the first spin of the season in his VF-21 and remains at the bottom of the timesheets today – a stark reminder of difficulties ahead for the team.
His fellow-rookie teammate Mick Schumacher marked a better afternoon in P18 for the American team, getting ahead of Williams’ Nicholas Latfifi after a lap of 1:33.297.
The world Champions have started out the season better than many expected following testing, although there are clearly some more issues to be resolved with the W12, particularly in that of Valtteri Bottas, however, the team still managed two top 5 fastest laps at the end of FP2.
Max Verstappen’s RB16B proved to be the quickest on track once again, clocking the fastest lap at 1:30.847, and after leading the early timesheets on the medium tyres, it’s been a good day for the Milton Keynes team.
Friday 🏁 Max ends FP2 in P1 with a 1:30.847 and Checo is P10 with a 1:31.503 💪 #BahrainGP 🇧🇭 #ChargeOn 🤘 pic.twitter.com/zdZOTzZWYT
— Red Bull Racing Honda (@redbullracing) March 26, 2021
Sergio Perez landed in tenth at the end of today’s session over a second slower than his Dutch teammate, followed by Alpine’s Esteban Ocon in 11th, Charles Leclerc in 12th, and Alfa Romeo’s Giovinazzi in 13th.
Sebastian Vettel lifted his Aston Martin up into third for a moment this afternoon, but ultimately re-entered the pits in 14th at the end of the session, with his Canadian teammate, Lance Stroll higher up the order in eighth.
AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda retired to the pits with five minutes to go to resolve an issue with the car, but despite this clocked the 7th fastest time, slightly ahead of the second AlphaTauri car of Pierre Gasly in ninth, in what has proven to be a good day for the team.
The 2021 contenders will return to the Bahrain International Circuit tomorrow at 12:00 pm.
