Are drainage covers becoming a problem in the Venturi-tunnel ground effect era of Formula 1? Has Red Bull found some mechanical issues with their RB20?
And which teams are looking short on form as testing develops?
Steph Wentworth chats with Autosport’s Alex Kalinauckas in the Bahrain media centre and Haydn Cobb to answer all these questions and more.
Bahrain day two recap:
Running the C4 tyre in the Pirelli range, which won’t be available in next weekend’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz lapped in 1m29.921s, compared to Max Verstappen’s 1m31.344s from yesterday on the harder C3 compound – which will be the designated soft tyre next weekend.
Sainz’s best time was 0.758s clear of Sergio Perez, who set his best time in the final 20 minutes of the session, with Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) a further four tenths behind – the latter pair setting their fastest laps like the majority on the C3 tyre.
McLaren’s Lando Norris was fourth quickest, the top four all beating Verstappen’s Wednesday time, from Daniel Ricciardo’s RB (set on the C4).
Leclerc’s time from the morning stood as the sixth fastest time of the day, ahead of Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Valtteri Bottas (Sauber).
Despite encountering technical problems in both sessions, that cost Red Bull some valuable track time, Perez logged the most laps at 129.
2024 Bahrain F1 test, Day 2 results:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps | Tyres |
| 1 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1:29.921 | 84 | C4 | |
| 2 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull Racing | 1:30.679 | +0.758s | 129 | C3 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:31.066 | +1.145s | 123 | C3 |
| 4 | Lando Norris | Mclaren | 1:31.256 | +1.335s | 52 | C3 |
| 5 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | 1:31.361 | +1.440s | 88 | C4 |
| 6 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:31.750 | +1.829s | 54 | C3 |
| 7 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:32.029 | +2.108s | 96 | C3 |
| 8 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 1:32.061 | +2.140s | 78 | C3 |
| 9 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber | 1:32.227 | +2.306s | 97 | C3 |
| 10 | Oscar Piastri | Mclaren | 1:32.328 | +2.407s | 35 | C3 |
| 11 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | 1:32.578 | +2.657s | 117 | C3 |
| 12 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:33.053 | +3.132s | 31 | C3 |
| 13 | Zhou Guanyu | Sauber | 1:33.715 | +3.794s | 38 | C3 |
| 14 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1:33.804 | +3.883s | 33 | C3 |
| 15 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1:36.611 | +6.690s | 93 | C3 |
| 16 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 1:37.509 | +7.588s | 31 | C3 |
| 17 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | 1:38.074 | +8.153s | 40 | C3 |
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