Leclerc tops Norris in Bahrain F1 testing as Mercedes hits more trouble

Charles Leclerc set the pace on the second day of the opening pre-season test in Bahrain, as Mercedes once again struggled for mileage.

The Ferrari driver was behind the wheel for the entirety of Thursday’s running and completed 139 laps – including a race simulation in the afternoon session – as he posted the fastest lap of the week so far. Leclerc’s 1m34.273s was 0.4s quicker than Lando Norris’ benchmark from the opening day, and 0.511s clear of the McLaren on day two’s timing screens.

Like Wednesday, Norris set his best time on the C2 compound tire, while the rest of the runners were all on the softer C3 that will provide a like-for-like pace advantage. Although Norris was around 0.1s slower than his previous best of the week, his 149 laps were particularly impressive as the highest mileage of any single team or driver.

There was one stoppage for Norris when he had to jump out of his car in the pit lane just before the lunch break, but it didn’t appear to overly impact McLaren’s program as the car was quickly recovered by his mechanics.

Once again it was Haas registering lap times near the top of the timing screens as Oliver Bearman was third quickest, and the consistent running continued with a further 130 laps being added to the team’s total for the week.

There was further trouble for Mercedes, though, despite George Russell ending up fourth overall with his 54 laps in the afternoon. After a disrupted Wednesday, Kimi Antonelli again found his track time limited as Mercedes had to change his power unit after discovering an issue, resulting in no time being set across just three laps.

Red Bull’s encouraging start to the week was also hit by a reliability concern on day two, with Isack Hadjar registering just a solitary lap in the morning session. A hydraulic problem was the cause, but was resolved in time for Hadjar to hit the track just before the lunch break and then enjoy uninterrupted running afterwards, completing a total of 87 laps and posting a 1m36.561s.

There were encouraging flashes of performance from both Audi and Cadillac as the two new teams started to explore the pace of their cars, with Gabriel Bortoleto sixth and Valtteri Bottas eighth. The pair were separated by just 0.154s in terms of a headline lap time – around 2.5s adrift of Norris – and both completed 67 laps in the afternoon after taking over from their respective teammates.

For Bottas there was both a race simulation and qualifying-style run in the afternoon to help Cadillac gain vital data ahead of its debut season, following on from Sergio Perez stopping on track with a throttle sensor issue in the morning.

Pierre Gasly sandwiched the two new teams in the Alpine, though a solid day of 97 laps was then halted prematurely when he caused a red flag after stopping on the inside of Turn 1. Another Mercedes-powered team, Williams, enjoyed a second straight strong day in terms of mileage, with Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz sharing duties again and combining for 131 laps.

It was also a better day for Aston Martin in terms of track time, with Fernando Alonso finishing just shy of the 100-lap mark on his first full day in the car this week. Alonso’s best lap was a 1m38.248s – some 3.975s off Leclerc’s benchmark – and tallied with comments from Lance Stroll that the team is currently around four seconds per lap off the quickest cars.