Report of second day of 2021 F1 testing in Bahrain

Event: Wintertesting
Track: Bahrain International Circuit

Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin AMR21

Weather: dry  29.9-20.2°C
Tarmac: dry  40.9-24.1°C
Humidity :32.4%
Wind : 4.7 m/s W
Pressure: 1016.3 bar

Mar.13 - After yesterday's first day of testing we learned a lot about the new cars. It's said that cars who have a high rake have lost less downforce from the rule changes. Today the day started of with great weather and the tarmac even warmed up to over 40°C. The testing sessions was stopped by 2 red flags.

Morning session

The day again started off with a Mercedes gearbox problem. This time the gearbox in the back of Sebastian Vettel's Aston Martin had a gear shift problem, just like Valterri Bottas had with the Mercedes yesterday.

Lewis Hamilton drove the Mercedes in the morning and showed a much better pace than yesterday, but was having a very unstable rear. The 7 times champ even spun off in turn 13 and beached the W12 casing the session to stop.

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

Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso were getting there first real taste of their new tool to try and win the title. Alonso showed great pace right from the start in the Alpine and even topped the chart 1 hour into the session. The Spanish double champion had pounded already 32 laps at that moment and looked metronomic behind the wheel.

Carlos Sainz who now drives for Ferrari ruined a set of medium tyres around that time when he lost the rear of the SF21 a couple of times. Nicholas Latifi

Red Bull and Perez had a solid and trouble free morning. The Mexican driver was 5th fastest and seemed to enjoy his first run in the new RB16B. He did had run wide a couple of times in turn 11.

The gear shift problem on Vettel's Aston Martin was at last fixed almost at the end of the morning session. The German driver only was able to drive 10 laps in the racing green coloured car.

Afternoon session of second day testing

In the afternoon session it took almost a hour before Valtteri Bottas could start his session, because the team was probably changing the floor of the W12. The change did payoff as the Finn was quickest of the day.

Daniel Ricciardo was topping the leaderboard in the Mclaren for a long time with a 1:32.215 min. The three rookies were also driving around today and did a solid job. Yuki Tsunoda of AlfaTauri en both Haas drivers Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin drove a lot of laps. The Haas had a technical problem yesterday that compromised track time for both drivers.

The second red flag of the day was caused by debris that came of the Red Bull. Perez who already had driven 95 laps in the Red Bull lost his complete engine cover on the mainstraight when he came out of the slipstream behind the Williams of Nicholas Latifi.

Checo's bodywork really said: Send it 🚀#F1 #F1Testing @redbullracing @SChecoPerez pic.twitter.com/suv2RymgYI

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 13, 2021

Almost every team did long runs in the afternoon and Mercedes ended up as fastest for the first time this weekend.

Quickest Lap Times 2nd day of testing

Here you can find the photos of the second day of testing in Bahrain.

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