More run and lap times in Bahrain for McLaren and Alpine, with newcomers Daniel Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso returning; Mercedes starts digging miles back but Lewis Hamilton spins to gravel
By James Galloway
Last updated: 13/03/21 11:40 am
New McLaren star Daniel Ricciardo continued to sign his team’s promising start to F1 2021 by once again at the top of the morning session at Saturday’s Bahrain test.
Lewis Hamilton traveled his Mercedes with a spin into the gravel halfway through the session but it was only a short fix when the world champions finished 58 laps – already 10 more than they were managing. All Friday.
But they are still at the bottom of the milestones at the midpoint of the F1 abbreviated preseason program.
Mercedes’ gearbox change and standard car handling issues on Friday had admitted that they had made a “bad start” to the three-day test with their new W12 car.
Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso returned to F1 action after two seasons away and immediately ran competitively, finishing 60 laps for his first time in the A521 Alpine strike.
1:22 After two years away from F1, Fernando Alonso will return to the sport in the Alpine AF21 during the morning test session on day 2 in Bahrain.
The 39-year-old Spaniard revealed on Friday that he would have to race all season with two titanium plates in his shock after he broke up and underwent surgery in a cycling accident in Switzerland just four weeks ago.
Sergio Perez was another editor for a new team, with the Mexican finishing fourth fastest in Red Bull’s RB16B.
Nicholas Latifi was fourth for Williams, with rookie AlphaTauri Yuki Tsunoda in fifth fastest.
4:09 Seasons 1 and 2 of the original Netflix Drive to Survive on Sky Sports F1 from Sunday at 9.30pm. One of the big stars of the series, Haas team leader Guenther Steiner, explains all about it.
But the Aston Martin team hit a gearbox problem and Sebastian Vettel was limited to just nine laps. With Lance Stroll set to take over the car for an afternoon, four-time champion Vettel now has just four hours left to prepare for the opening of the Bahraini GP. seasons for his new team on March 26-28.
Ferrari and Latifi ‘s Carlos Sainz had also been spinning amid continued wind conditions at Sakhir.
I liked the trail side today: Mercedes look like they’re coming back into the performance window, Red Bull look v good, Alpso ‘s Alpine also look very stable and impressive on a corner entrance to medium / slow speed corners, Sainz looked like the fuel-heavy car … pic.twitter.com/ZggVSzM5YM
– Karun Chandhok (@karunchandhok) March 13, 2021
Test action will begin Saturday at 12pm GMT, live on Sky Sports F1.
More to follow…