Carlos Sainz Tops Day 2 Of F1 Testing At Sakhir

Carlos Sainz set the pace on the second day of Formula 1 testing at the Sakhir circuit, clocking a 1’29”348 to lead the timesheets. The Spaniard, now driving for Williams after topping the same day last year with Ferrari, put down a marker on the C3 tyre during his 63rd of 127 laps. That time shaved 573 thousandths off his best from 12 months ago. His testing is done—Alex Albon takes over the Williams cockpit for the final day tomorrow.

Ferrari’s duo followed close behind, splitting duties in the SF-25. Lewis Hamilton edged out Charles Leclerc by a razor-thin 52 thousandths—1’29”379 to 1’29”431—both on C3s as well.

Cool weather stuck around, with temps hovering between 13 and 18°C, odd for Bahrain. Rain even showed up, keeping most of the 18 drivers—minus Max Verstappen and Albon, who sat this one out—in the pits for a stretch. Esteban Ocon was the outlier, taking his Haas out for three practice starts on Intermediates, the first time that tyre’s hit Sakhir in testing since Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull run in April 2017.

Tyres told their own story. The C3 dominated again, covering 767 of the day’s 1258 laps (60.97%), but its grip loosened compared to yesterday. The C4 debuted with 30 laps split between Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber), Sainz, and Leclerc, while the C2 (238 laps, 18.92%) and C1 (210 laps, 16.69%) saw more action thanks to long runs. Yuki Tsunoda of Racing Bulls logged the longest stint—25 straight laps on C1s—while Sainz racked up the most laps overall.

Testing wraps tomorrow, kicking off at 10:00 local time and running to 19:00, with a lunch break from 14:00 to 15:00.