Sainz leads Hamilton on day 2

Carlos Sainz has topped the second day of F1 testing in a Williams ahead of his Ferrari replacement Lewis Hamilton.

On a day where rain did play a factor, there was nothing in it between Sainz and his former team.

The Spaniard’s 1:29.348 was less than a tenth ahead of the teammates.

Sainz was just 0.031s clear of Hamilton, who made headlines by topping the timesheets for the first time in the #44 Ferrari when he set the pace in the morning session.

Charles Leclerc then jumped into the #16 and set the third fastest time, just 0.083s away from the #55.

It was a big day for Sainz as he clocked 126 laps having been one of just two drivers to do all eight hours of running at Bahrain.

The other was Red Bull’s Liam Lawson, but he only managed 91 laps and the seventh fastest time having suffered water pressure issues.

The Mercedes teammates led by George Russell rounded out the top five, but were more than four tenths away.

McLaren did not trouble the leaders with Australia’s Oscar Piastri leading Lando Norris in 13th and 14th respectively.

Lewis Hamilton was fast in the #44 Ferrari. Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images/F1

However, the reigning champions still looked fast with the MCL39 looking planted as the drivers backed out of a number of laps.

With rain also being on display in the Bahrain desert, there were a number of moments.

Despite topping the times, Sainz had close calls at Turns 1 and 11 during the day and a spin at the opening chicane  under lights.

Piastri had a snap of oversteer at the same turn and went off at the opening corner, while the Aussie also accidentally struck Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg, creating the first moment of contact of the year, while the #81 also went off at the opening corner with a lock up.

His Alpine compatriot Jack Doohan had a big lock up at Turn 4, but still snuck ahead of his teammate Pierre Gasly in seventh and Charles Leclerc had a wild spin at final turn.

Leader Sainz admitted it was a “complicated day” but was pleased with the pace.

“I just finished a very long day here in Bahrain – a lot of laps, a bit of a stop-start day with the rain all the time, in Bahrain which is weird!” He said.

“(There was) rain on-off, wind on-off. It was a bit of a complicated day, a very long day but a day that we managed to get away with it, do a lot of laps, improvise a bit the run plan as we were moving on, and we managed to complete the whole programme.

“We did some progress relative to yesterday, improving the balance of the car and improving the overall feeling with the car.”

Hamilton said he is feeling at home in the SF-25.

“We’re slowly bonding, I think,” he said.

“I mean, that’s what these days are about. It’s about exploring. At the moment, I think there’s still room to explore more.

“Bit by bit, I’m just eking out a little bit more each time. All the settings are so different, so even just brake bias and all those sorts of things – it’s much different to what I had in the previous place.

“It’s not necessarily unlearning what I did before, but kind of relearning this new way of working and the way the car likes to be driven, as it likes to be driven differently. That’s a really fun journey, learning that.

“I can definitely feel the car underneath me; I feel like the car is responding to my inputs. Today was a positive, making those incremental steps with the set-up.

“This past month couldn’t have gone any different and it couldn’t have gone any better.”

The final day of pre-season testing will take place tonight from 17.55 where Piastri will finally get a drive in the cooler and faster night conditions.

2025 Formula 1 pre-season test driver schedules

Day 3 morning: Verstappen, Antonelli, Doohan, Bearman, Hadjar, Stroll, Norris, Albon, Bortoleto

Day 3 afternoon: Verstappen, Russell, Gasly, Ocon, Tsunoda, Alonso, Piastri, Albon, Hülkenberg

Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images

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