Nico Hülkenberg is significantly faster than his Haas teammate Kevin Magnussen on the second day of Formula 1 testing. Max Verstappen and Red Bull are again strong, Mercedes is not doing so well. The Silver Arrow even has to be towed away.
The second day of testing before the new Formula 1 season went extremely badly for Mercedes. Record world champion Lewis Hamilton and George Russell (both Great Britain) could not keep up with the pace of the leading group around the day’s best Zhou Guanyu (China/Alfa Romeo) – technical problems on the new car are also causing concern. Due to a hydraulic defect, Russell had to park the Mercedes W14 just under 90 minutes before the end.
Mercedes only turned 98 laps in Bahrain – and thus significantly fewer than the competition. For comparison: The US-American Williams newcomer Logan Sargeant unwound 154 laps alone. “Nevertheless, we learned a lot. It was a difficult day, but still good and instructive,” said Mercedes replacement driver Mick Schumacher on Sky. The goal is always three digits, commented Formula 1 in its live ticker: “Anything else is a telltale sign that a team is struggling.”
Somewhat surprisingly, the fastest was Chinese Zhou, who set the best time with his Alfa Romeo in the final phase of 1:41.610 minutes. Russell (2.044 seconds) was 13th, Hamilton (2.344) was 15th. Things went much better for the Dutch world champion Max Verstappen (0.040) in the Red Bull, who finished second. The Spanish veteran Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin/ 0.595) took third place.
Returnee Nico Hülkenberg (Haas) finished fifth (0.856) and scored points in the team-internal duel with Kevin Magnussen. Hulkenberg, who took over the cockpit from Mick Schumacher, was significantly faster than the Dane (1.832/11th place). Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari had set the pace at the beginning of the day and initially set the best time. In the end, the Spaniard (0.876) finished sixth, his teammate Charles Leclerc (Monaco/1.115) finished eighth.
Before the record season with 23 Grands Prix, the racing teams are testing their new cars on the desert Bahrain International Circuit until Saturday. However, the times only allow conclusions to a limited extent, because nobody knows exactly which programs the competitors are running. The season also starts next week in Bahrain (March 5).
