2022 Formula 1 Bahrain March testing
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F1 Bahrain pre-season test - Day 2
Minute by minute updates on the second day of the 2022 Bahrain F1 pre-season test
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No indication of anybody in strife, it appears to be a systems check as with the virtual safety car that was brought out in the closing minutes of yesterday morning's session.
Red flag
Out of the pits comes Vettel once more - but we've now got a red flag with 15 minutes to go.
More bad news for Haas then, as Mick Schumacher's morning running is ended after just 23 laps by exhaust trouble. It never rains, but it pours...
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Vettel's Aston has made it back to the pits, where a great deal of attention is being paid to the right-rear corner.
Yuki Tsunoda has now returned to the track in the AlphaTauri, and seems to be struggling with dire understeer as he's missing apexes all over the shot.
Another prescient insight from Russell yesterday shows the long-term mindset that drivers have to take: "These tests are very focused on what the team wants to achieve and the test items. The greater understanding you have as a team, the better shape it will put you in for the rest of the season." The long and short of it is that he won't be at all concerned by times - the team has its run plan and that's what he'll be sticking to.
Ocon and Russell are the only two drivers currently out on track, book-ending the leaderboard in P1 and P9. The Mercedes driver is 4.3 seconds off the pace of his Alpine rival - but his programme clearly isn't about going for laptimes. As he said in yesterday's press conference: "As drivers you always want to chase performance, you always want to be at the top of the timesheets, but you're not going to benefit yourself longer-term if you focus on that here in Bahrain."
The Aston Martin is now making its way back to the pits - but on the back of an Isuzu flat-bed truck, rather than by throaty V6 power. Inglorious.
With Alpine switching up its colour scheme today, we've been racking our brains to think of the best pink racing liveries. Can anything top Porsche's Pink Pig?
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Leclerc is clearly enjoying himself out on the mediums, as he powerslides out of the final corner. His last lap though was eight seconds off his personal best to date.
Russell has done comfortably the highest number of laps so far. The new Mercedes man is on 58 tours for the morning, which is two more than the full Bahrain Grand Prix last year. The next-closest in the lap chart figures is Ocon on 47 - both currently pounding around on hard tyres.
Vettel meanwhile has exited his stranded Aston, which looks set to be taking no further part in the session. He'd done 43 laps up to that point, which is still more than Red Bull, McLaren, AlphaTauri, Alfa Romeo, Haas and Williams.
In case you're wondering how the times so far today compare to yesterday's morning session, Leclerc set the pace on a 1m34.531s using medium tyres. Today, he's second-quickest with a 1m34.366s on the same rubber, while current pace-setter Ocon did a 1m34.276s on the C4 soft. No telling what fuel they're using though.
Meanwhile, Lando Norris has just improved for McLaren. He's set a 1m36.354s on the C2 Prototype tyre.
We've seen some replays of Vettel driving very slowly prior to his stoppage. He exited the pits about as speedily as a five year old that's been ordered to tidy their room, and then took the access road on the inside of the Turn 1 hairpin - which suggests he knew he already had an issue.
Williams says it will "revise our running plan once we have assessed the repair work that needs to be carried out". But it faces a big job to get out this afternoon.
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Anxious faces in the Aston garage as the team now faces a none too restful lunch break. Meanwhile, we've had an update from Williams on the cause of Latifi's fire earlier on.
Vettel is still in the car, but has pulled off behind the barrier exiting Turn 3. He's stopped on the approach to the chicane used for the Sakhir 'outer-loop' track when Sergio Perez won for Racing Point in 2020.
Thanks JBL. Currently we've got five cars out on track, although one of them isn't moving. Vettel has come to a halt in the Aston Martin.
Pit stop
It's time for Haydn and I to tag out; James Newbold and Megan White are both ready to take over for the middle stint - have fun both!
Tsunoda moves up to fifth, posting a 1m36.802s on the C3s. Meanwhile, Russell puts a move on Verstappen, albeit both going somewhat un-quickly.
We've just an hour to go this morning; here's the times so far:
- Ocon, Alpine, 1m34.276s, C4, 37 laps
- Leclerc, Ferrari, 1m34.366s, C3, 32
- Verstappen, Red Bull, 1m35.874s, C2, 32
- Vettel, Aston Martin, 1m36.020s, C3, 42
- Bottas, Alfa Romeo, 1m36.987s, C2, 18
- Norris, McLaren, 1m37.537s, C2, 15
- Tsunoda, AlphaTauri, 1m37.692s, C3, 28
- Schumacher, Haas, 1m37.846s, C2, 20
- Russell, Mercedes, 1m38.585s, C2 proto, 43
- Latifi, Williams, 1m39.845s, C2 proto, 12
On the cusp of displacing Vettel in terms of lap count, Russell is still P9 overall - but doesn't look like he's approaching performance runs. He and Ocon are circulating on the C2 rubber at the moment.
Russell attempts to "attack" the pit entry line; coming in for a stop, he winds down the gears and goes hard on the brakes before taking on fresh C2 tyres. Norris, meanwhile, probably brakes a little bit late for Turn 1 and locks up all four corners. He gets his McLaren into the corner, though, so that's something...
"Tsunoda doesn’t appear to be having too much fun in the AlphaTauri. Spectating at Turn 10 since the green flag, he’s now locked up the front left a good half dozen times and is having a hard time keeping it on the black stuff at the downhill left-hander as he runs well deep on this set of C3 Pirellis. Russell is quite the opposite in the Mercedes. The rear rotates so quickly through the corner that he’s able to back it in and is at the apex before he’s really turned the wheel. It’s tricking the eyes somewhat."
Norris now seems to be turning in some laps, getting into double figures, but he still doesn't seem totally comfortable at Turn 11 - having a slight skip across the exit kerb.
Mr. Kew's insight suggesting that carbon rods have been one of the key additions of the test, as predicted by The Simpsons:
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Latifi took on fire marshalling duties earlier today, following his rear brake fire:
"Mercedes, Alfa Romeo and Ferrari were the three teams yesterday we spotted sporting carbon rods attached to the floor in a bid to add stiffness and therefore prevent porpoising. We can add Haas and AlphaTauri to that list today, the latter not all too surprising giving how violently we saw Gasly rocking back and forth as his car’s airflow stalled on the straights on Thursday."
In terms of lap counts, Vettel is still leading the way; he's on 42 tours of the circuit, with Verstappen on 32 and Ocon tickled pink with 31.
Work once again continues down at McLaren to assess Norris' brakes. Meanwhile, the camera switches to Red Bull making adjustments to the pullrod at the front suspension.
Tsunoda, meanwhile, splits the aforementioned pair and moves up to sixth overall - setting a 1m37.782s on the middle compound. Vettel's next up, now posting a 1m36.020s on the C3 tyre.
Norris indeed delivers, supplanting Schumacher from fifth overall with a 1m37.537s - also on C2s. It's only Norris' ninth lap, with McLaren still grappling with brake troubles at the front.
Schumacher improves his time on the C2 tyres, moving up to P5 with a 1m37.846s, while Norris and Tsunoda are also on better laps.
Tsunoda, Russell and Schumacher also head out onto the circuit, looking to make up for lost time.
Green flag
We're back up and running - green flag! Esteban Ocon kicks us off once again.
The body-bagged Williams is finally wheeled into the garage, and the screens shuffled in front of the garage. We'll get going in approximately four minutes' time.
By: autosport.com
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