Bahrain Test 1 – Day 2: Magnussen and McLaren Lead, Ahead of Hülkenberg and Alonso
The second day of private testing in Bahrain saw Kevin Magnussen set the fastest time, nearly one and a half seconds ahead of Nico Hülkenberg, who led yesterday, and Fernando Alonso.
Once again, at the end of this second day of the first test sessions in Bahrain, cars equipped with a Mercedes engine seemed to dominate the top positions. Only Fernando Alonso and his Ferrari managed to stop the German hegemony.
On the timing sheet side, it’s McLaren rookie Kevin Magnussen who stood out by setting the fastest time of the day at 1:34.910, on super-soft tires, a second and a half quicker than the one who was in his place yesterday, Nico Hülkenberg, in the Force India.
Fernando Alonso, therefore, posted a time quite close to that of the German and appears as the only Ferrari engine among the top five. An indication that is noteworthy at this stage of testing. The Scuderia can once again be satisfied with the mileage as the Spaniard completed the Sakhir circuit 97 times.
On Nico Rosberg’s side, with the 4th fastest time of the day, there were a few minor alerts to note: the German’s Mercedes was the cause of two of the four interruptions of the day. Two sensor problems are suspected, but the German press also mentioned a possible water pressure issue. This did not prevent the W05 from completing 85 laps of the Bahraini circuit.
Behind him, the standout performer of the day: Valtteri Bottas. After a challenging first day for Williams, which only completed 5 laps, the FW36 from the Grove team managed a total of 116 laps, just over twice the distance of a Grand Prix held in Bahrain (57 laps).
From sixth place onwards, the Renault engines emerge: Kamui Kobayashi finishes nearly 5 seconds behind Magnussen. He is a few tenths ahead of two other French engines: the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel and the Toro Rosso of Jean-Eric Vergne. The three drivers completed 66, 59, and 58 laps respectively, marking quite comfortably the best day of running for the Viry-Châtillon V6 Turbos. They are followed by Esteban Gutiérrez, who caused the last red flag of the day due to an electrical problem.
The two underperformers of the day are Lotus (18 laps) and Marussia (17 laps). Romain Grosjean will not have benefited much from his first two days of testing, with a total of 26 laps and multiple issues, notably with the battery. For Max Chilton, like Jules Bianchi yesterday, the day was not very productive: this time, it was a fuel system problem that kept the MR03 in the pits.
Ranking Day 2 – Bahrain Test 1 – February 20 /f1/news/16968-bahrain-test-1-day-1-hulkenberg-makes-an-impression-red-bull-and-lotus-stalled.html:
| No. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
1 | Magnussen | McLaren Mercedes | 1:34.910 | 46 | |
2 | Hülkenberg | Sahara Force India F1 Team | 1:36.445 | +1.535 | 59 |
3 | Alonso | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:36.516 | +1.606 | 97 |
4 | Rosberg | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 1:36.965 | +2.055 | 85 |
5 | Bottas | Williams F1 Team | 1:37.328 | +2.418 | 116 |
6 | Kobayashi | Caterham F1 Team | 1:39.855 | +4.945 | 66 |
7 | Vettel | Infiniti Red Bull Racing | 1:40.340 | +5.430 | 59 |
8 | Vergne | Scuderia Toro Rosso | 1:40.609 | +5.699 | 58 |
9 | Gutierrez | Sauber F1 Team | 1:40.717 | +5.807 | 55 |
10 | Grosjean | Lotus F1 Team | 1:41.670 | +6.760 | 18 |
11 | Chilton | Marussia F1 Team | 1:42.511 | +7.601 | 17 |
