Lewis Hamilton produced an encouraging show on the second morning of Formulation 1 pre-season testing as he topped the timesheet for Ferrari in Bahrain.
Persevering with his assimilation to the Italian staff having joined from Mercedes over the winter, Hamilton delivered a searing present of tempo as he repeatedly improved his occasions to complete 4 tenths away from his former Silver Arrows team-mate George Russell.
In a busy begin to the morning session on day two, Hamilton improved on the earlier quickest time of the check, set by McLaren’s Lando Norris on Wednesday in what are usually thought-about to be extra beneficial floodlit night situations.
Hamilton then instantly took an extra two tenths off his time to eclipse the most effective lap time from final yr’s Bahrain check, a 1:30.222 delivered, additionally for Ferrari, by his team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The explanation for the unusually busy observe within the early phases of the session quickly grew to become clear as some uncommon Sakhir rain arrived to all-but clear the observe for the most effective a part of an hour.
The observe started to ramp up once more with simply over an hour of the session remaining, with Carlos Sainz – driving in each of Thursday’s periods for Williams – shifting inside a hundredth of a second of the then-leading time whereas utilizing a tougher tyre compound than Hamilton.
The observe enchancment was confirmed moments later when Russell grew to become the primary driver to enter the 1:20s, however the Mercedes was solely on the high of the timesheet for a matter of seconds as Hamilton went a few tenths higher.
With 45 minutes of the session remaining, Hamilton returned on recent tyres as soon as extra for an additional efficiency run, however really blew his first try as he ran huge within the center sector having improved on his earlier finest within the opening a part of the lap.
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Lewis Hamilton posted back-to-back quickest laps within the Ferrari throughout a robust begin to the second day of pre-season testing.
Nevertheless, having aborted the primary lap, he discovered sufficient in his tyres to go two tenths sooner, with a 1:29.379 that was faster than Ferrari’s qualifying finest right here in Bahrain final yr and simply 0.2s away from the 2024 pole time set by Max Verstappen.
Whereas the climate diminished working throughout the board, Hamilton nonetheless managed a wholesome 45 laps, with Russell topping the mileage charts on 71 journeys across the Bahrain Worldwide Circuit.
Sky Sports activities F1’s Karun Chandhok stated: “Yesterday it simply regarded just like the entrance of the automobile wasn’t fairly there for Lewis, however right now it actually regarded like, whereas the circuit has improved and everybody goes a second faster, he had a automobile beneath him that he might flip and manipulate a nook.
“I believe that is an encouraging signal for him and his legion of followers on the market, who actually need him to succeed at Ferrari.”
In what, rain apart, was a largely routine session, the one main second of drama got here when McLaren’s Oscar Piastri collided with Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg in an odd incident.
Hulkenberg, not going at full tilt, was forward on observe going into Flip Eight however Piastri fancied getting previous and made a transfer up the within, just for the McLaren to run deep and into the Sauber.
Whereas the contact was mild, it broken the entrance wing of the McLaren, which wanted a change. Hulkenberg appeared to keep away from any injury to his automobile.
Having seen his team-mate Norris high Wednesday’s timesheet, Piastri was solely seventh with McLaren’s morning programme showing to not deal with efficiency runs.
Liam Lawson, who’s driving in each Thursday periods for Purple Bull forward of Verstappen doing the identical on Friday, was eighth and managed solely 28 laps – 12 lower than the subsequent lowest session complete.
Bahrain Take a look at Timesheet – Day Two morning
1) Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, 1:29.379, 45 laps
2) George Russell, Mercedes, 1:29.778, 71 laps
3) Carlos Sainz, Williams, 1:30.090, 44 laps
4) Pierre Gasly, Alpine, 1:30.430, 40 laps
5) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin, 1:30.700, 45 laps
6) Yuki Tsunoda, Racing Bulls, 1:30.793, 46 laps
7) Oscar Piastri, McLaren, 1:30.821, 44 laps
8) Liam Lawson, Purple Bull, 1:31.233, 28 laps
9) Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber, 1:31.457, 56 laps
10) Esteban Ocon, Haas, 1:33.071, 69 laps
Sky Sports activities F1’s reside pre-season testing schedule
Thursday February 27 – Day Two
- 11.55am-4.05pm: Afternoon Session
- 8pm: Testing Wrap
- 8.30pm: Ted’s Testing Pocket book
Friday February 28 – Day Three
- 6.50am-11.05am: Morning Session
- 11.55am-4.05pm: Afternoon Session
- 8pm: Testing Wrap
- 8.30pm: Ted’s Testing Pocket book
- 9pm: Ted’s Improvement Nook
When is the primary F1 race?
For the primary time since 2019, the season-opener can be held in Melbourne on the Australian Grand Prix on March 14-16. The primary race has switched from Bahrain to Australia resulting from Ramadan going down all through March.
There are 24 occasions on the 2025 F1 calendar, the identical quantity as final yr, with the season ending on the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on December 5-7.
Watch all 24 race weekends from the 2025 Formulation 1 season reside on Sky Sports activities F1, beginning with the Australian GP on March 14-16. Stream Sky Sports activities with NOW – No contract, cancel anytime
