MAGNUSSEN MAKES IMPACT ON RETURN

Kevin Magnussen made an impact on his return to Formula 1, ending the second day of testing at the Bahrain International Circuit on top of the timesheets.

Given extra track time to make up for missing out on the first session due to shipping delays outside of the teams control, the Haas driver took full advantage of having the track to himself to end the day with the fastest time of 1m33.207s.

It was a solid effort for Magnussen who completed his first 39 laps in the new regulation cars during the afternoon and evening after only signing with the team on Wednesday prior and completing his seat fitting overnight.

At the end of the scheduled track time it was Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz who set the benchmark with a time of 1m33.532s having completed 60 laps after taking over from teammate Charles Leclerc during the midday break. The pair completed 114 laps for the day despite a number of red flag interruptions.

Max Verstappen did all the running for Red Bull on the second day, completing 89 laps to end up third fastest.

Aston Martin split their drivers during the day with Lance Stroll recording the fourth fastest time. It wasn’t all smoothing running for the team, during the morning session with Sebastian Vettel behind the wheel a reliability issue saw him stop off-track triggering one of a number of red flags for the session.

Lewis Hamilton set the fifth fastest time, after taking over from George Russell who completed the morning session for Mercedes.

Alpine swapped over to their pink livery overnight – Image: Motorsport Images

After a quick change overnight, Alpine debuted their special pink livery that they will run for the opening round of the season. Esteban Ocon had the honour giving the new look its first track running. The Frenchman was sixth at the end of the day.

Lando Norris once again completed all the on track running for McLaren with Daniel Ricciardo unwell. The Australian would later test positive for COVID ruling him out of the rest of the testing program, but is expected to be clear to return for the opening race of the season.

Further adding to McLaren’s issues was a brake overheating drama. Norris only completed 59 laps while the team worked through the issue, but still ended the day with the eighth fastest time.

AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda put in the biggest individual effort for the day, completing 119 laps. Also recording the tenth fastest time.

Further down the order, Alfa Romeo showed more consistency in the second round of testing but Valtteri Bottas’ run in the morning was cut short when his car stopped on track. Triggering another red flag.

Nicholas Latifi’s day was cut short after this fire – Image: Motorsport Images

While the most spectacular interruption of the day went to Willams, who’s day was cut short after just 12 laps when the rear brakes caught fire with Nicholas Latifi behind the wheel.

After spinning to a stop on the circuit, Latifi retrieved a fire extinguisher and limited the damage to the Williams. However the team would take no further part in the days running.

Formula 1 teams have one more day testing tomorrow ahead of the season opening Bahrain Grand Prix on March 20.

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