It was Valtteri Bottas who set the fastest time as the day drew to a close, setting a 1.30.289. It had been a shaky start for Mercedes as Lewis Hamilton beached the car into the gravel at the start of the day. But once a softer compound of tyre was put on, Valtteri Bottas, who drove the car in the afternoon, came alive and set the fastest time.
It was a good day for AlphaTauri, with Pierre Gasly setting the second fastest time, whilst Yuki Tsunoda had a good morning in the car, seeming to acquit himself well to Formula One. Lance Stroll’s third fastest time proved a saviour for Aston Martin, as a gearbox issue kept Sebastian Vettel garage bound for most the morning session.
McLaren once again showed pace, with Lando Norris topping the timesheets for much of the afternoon. Antonio Giovinazzi had the Alfa Romeo to himself today and set the fifth fastest time, ahead of Charles Leclerc in sixth, who struggled in the Ferrari. The same could also be said for his team-mate Carlos Sainz, who had an early spin.
Despite a couple of spins, Nicholas Latifi did the job that Williams needed, ending the session seventh and completing the most laps out of anyone. Sergio Perez had the Red Bull to himself, but had an eventful day, which included his engine cover flying off as he exited the slipstream from Nicholas Latifi’s Williams, bringing out the red flag.
Daniel Ricciardo ended the day ninth for McLaren, with Fernando Alonso rounding out the top 10. Despite not setting the timesheets alight, Alpine were happy with their running on Day 2, with Fernando completing 127 laps.
The same could not be said for Haas though as their cars ended twelfth and fourteenth on the table, the American outfit having already abandoned development of their 2021 car to focus on 2022.
Here is the classification of Day 2 from Bahrain. (Image credit to FOM)
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