That’s right, Haas, as Russell says Ferrari has an edge going into the season’s first race.
SAKIR, Bahrain—He might have only returned to his former team in the last few days, and despite a transportation delay that affected the Haas F1 Team, Kevin Magnussen recorded the fastest time on Friday’s Day 2 of the final pre-season F1 test at the Bahrain International Circuit. Magnussen’s time of 1:33:027 was also the best time thus far in the testing period, with one day (Saturday) remaining.
The best lap was set as Haas was given three extra hours of testing after not being able to test earlier because of the delay in receiving its equipment from Turkey. Mick Schumacher finished 12th in the second Haas.
While the Magnussen/Haas finish was unexpected, Carlos Sainz Jr. stayed steady in his Ferrari by becoming runner-up for the second consecutive day. Sainz Jr.’s Ferrari teammate, Charles Leclerc, was a disappointing seventh.
Mercedes continued making news with its missing sidepods, new mirrors, and George Russell’s attribution that Ferrari is in the driver’s seat for 2022’s debut race, which will be held at the same circuit next weekend.
For the rest of the drivers on Friday, Max Verstappen, driving his Red Bull for the first time in this test, recorded a 1:34:11 to have the third-best time. Lance Stroll improved his Aston Martin to take fourth, while Esteban Ocon was sixth following being the top driver at lunch with his Alpine. But the Frenchman stopped on track in the afternoon after doing 111 laps up to that point.
Lando Norris, who finished eighth, drove the McLaren for the second consecutive day because teammate Daniel Ricciardo fell ill. Ricciardo then tested positive for COVID-19. The Australian will have to take a negative test within a week to participate in the season’s opening race.
With a Ukrainian symbol on his helmet, Sebastian Vettel took an impressive ninth in the second Aston Martin and Yuki Tsunoda took 10th in the Alpha Tauri. Despite his Alfa Romeo stopping at one point during the day’s test, Valtteri Bottas was 11th. Teammate Guanyu Zhou ended up in last place, 15th, in the second Alfa Romeo.
Nicholas Latifi, who ended up 14th in his Williams, had the most spectacular day on the track. The Canadian’s rear brakes caught fire when temperatures were at the highest. Latifi tried to make it back to the pit lane, hoping that the fire would be extinguished by wind hitting the car. But only two corners from the pit lane, Latifi spun and ended in the run-off area. The fire increased jas Latifi escaped just before a small explosion ensued as track marshals tried to put out the blaze.
