F1 test day two: Valtteri Bottas is fastest as Mercedes recovers, while AlphaTauri and McLaren impress

Mercedes returns to the top as Bottas’ last low-fuel race overtakes Gasly, Stroll and Norris; Hamilton spun in the morning session, which was capped by Ricciardo; Red Bull chooses not to chase fast times on day two

Valtteri Bottas set the pace on day two of F1 testing as Mercedes recovered from its slow start in Bahrain, beating AlphaTauri, Aston Martin and McLaren in a competitive and increasingly fast closing session.

After its surprising 2021 opening day affected by reliability, Mercedes, despite Lewis Hamilton’s spin on the gravel before lunch, improved during Saturday’s race, completing more than 100 laps and taking its most familiar position in the top of the timesheets thanks to Bottas low. -Return of soft fuel tires at the end of the day.

“It was the best half day of testing for Mercedes by a margin,” said Sky F1’s Martin Brundle. “It’s starting to get back under control again.”

2:28

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton raised the red flag during the morning testing session on the second day in Bahrain, after turning his car around at Turn 13, stranding the W12 in the process.

Bottas’ 1: 30.289, the fastest lap of the test so far, was a tenth of a second faster than Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll, who helped Aston Martin recover from an interrupted morning, while McLaren was also in the mix all day.

Star signing Daniel Ricciardo topped the timesheets in the morning, and Lando Norris finished just 0.3 seconds behind Bottas with his new Mercedes power as the pace picked up under the lights.

Antonio Giovinazzi, faster than Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari in his Alfa Romeo, also impressed, while Fernando Alonso completed 128 laps in his first F1 session in two years, and less than a month after the two-time world champion. Alpine’s jaw was broken in a bicycle accident.

1:07

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez saw the engine cover drop due to turbulence as he drove behind Williams’s Nicholas Latifi during the afternoon session on the second day.

Striking for its absence up front was Red Bull, who chose not to chase headline-grabbing times as Sergio Perez racked up a lot of mileage on his first official day in the RB16B, finishing eighth.

More to follow …