As it happened: 2025 F1 pre-season testing day two: Bahrain

This session has finished. No further updates will be posted.

That concludes our coverage of today’s test – read our report here and keep an eye our for more from today’s test on RaceFans later. Join us again tomorrow for the final day of testing!

Hadjar, Leclerc, Lawson, Norris, Antonelli and Stroll roll out of the pits to form up on the grid ready for the start simulation.

As they did at the end of the morning session, race control are running a simulation of race start procedures.

Now Norris produces the fastest middle sector of any driver so far. But again he backs out at the end of the lap and does not improve his time, staying 14th.

Norris picks up the pace in the McLaren over the first two sectors of the lap, sets a couple of personal bests, then peels off into the pits without setting an improved time. McLaren perform a race simulation and he heads off again.

Into the final half-hour of the test, Doohan brings his Alpine into the pits having already logged 74 laps. Norris heads back out – McLaren are well down in the bottom half of the times with only the Sauber and Haas drivers behind them, having seemingly spent much of today’s running concentrating on longer runs.

With an hour left in today’s running, Sainz has passed the 100 laps mark. Lawson is back in the pits:
1. Carlos Sainz Jnr – Williams FW47: 1’29.348 102 laps
2. Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari SF-25: 1’29.379 (+0.031) 45 laps
3. Charles Leclerc – Ferrari SF-25: 1’29.431 (+0.083) 57 laps
4. George Russell – Mercedes W16: 1’29.778 (+0.430) 71 laps
5. Andrea Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes W16: 1’29.784 (+0.436) 54 laps
6. Lance Stroll – Aston Martin AMR25: 1’30.229 (+0.881) 37 laps
7. Liam Lawson – Red Bull RB21: 1’30.252 (+0.904) 86 laps
8. Jack Doohan – Alpine A525: 1’30.368 (+1.020) 55 laps
9. Pierre Gasly – Alpine A525: 1’30.430 (+1.082) 40 laps
10. Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin AMR25: 1’30.700 (+1.352) 45 laps
11. Yuki Tsunoda – Racing Bulls 02: 1’30.793 (+1.445) 46 laps
12. Oscar Piastri – McLaren MCL39: 1’30.821 (+1.473) 44 laps
13. Lando Norris – McLaren MCL39: 1’30.882 (+1.534) 60 laps
14. Isack Hadjar – Racing Bulls 02: 1’30.953 (+1.605) 76 laps
15. Gabriel Bortoleto – Sauber C45: 1’31.057 (+1.709) 49 laps
16. Nico Hulkenberg – Sauber C45: 1’31.457 (+2.109) 56 laps
17. Esteban Ocon – Haas VF-25: 1’33.071 (+3.723) 69 laps
18. Oliver Bearman – Haas VF-25: 1’34.372 (+5.024) 55 laps
Last updated at: 16:03 CET

Is the rain returning? Hadjar reports on his radio that it’s “spitting”.

Bearman has also got running again after his earlier delay. Haas are clearly prioritising mileage and have racked up 119 laps between their two drivers so far today. Looks like they’re running heavy again, as like yesterday they’re at the bottom of the times, this time with Hadjar between them.

Sainz is still racking up the laps and is closing on the milestone 100. Lawson, the only other driver doing a full day today, is on 85 after missing out on a chunk of running earlier on.

Bortoleto had a minor off in the Sauber a moment ago, cutting across the inside of turn three.

We’re reaching the point in the day when, 24 hours ago, the lights went out. Hopefully there’s no repeat today – the track operators said it was caused by a failure at a substation outside the circuit.

Halfway through the afternoon session, Sainz is still on top for Williams ahead of the two Ferrari drivers. He’s also surpassed Ocon as the busiest driver so far today. Haas have covered more laps than Williams, but an apparent technical problem has now confined Bearman to the garage:
1. Carlos Sainz Jnr – Williams FW47: 1’29.348 77 laps
2. Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari SF-25: 1’29.379 (+0.031) 45 laps
3. Charles Leclerc – Ferrari SF-25: 1’29.431 (+0.083) 25 laps
4. George Russell – Mercedes W16: 1’29.778 (+0.430) 71 laps
5. Andrea Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes W16: 1’29.784 (+0.436) 28 laps
6. Jack Doohan – Alpine A525: 1’30.368 (+1.020) 22 laps
7. Pierre Gasly – Alpine A525: 1’30.430 (+1.082) 40 laps
8. Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin AMR25: 1’30.700 (+1.352) 45 laps
9. Yuki Tsunoda – Racing Bulls 02: 1’30.793 (+1.445) 46 laps
10. Lance Stroll – Aston Martin AMR25: 1’30.794 (+1.446) 16 laps
11. Oscar Piastri – McLaren MCL39: 1’30.821 (+1.473) 44 laps
12. Lando Norris – McLaren MCL39: 1’30.882 (+1.534) 17 laps
13. Liam Lawson – Red Bull RB21: 1’30.932 (+1.584) 77 laps
14. Gabriel Bortoleto – Sauber C45: 1’31.057 (+1.709) 19 laps
15. Nico Hulkenberg – Sauber C45: 1’31.457 (+2.109) 56 laps
16. Esteban Ocon – Haas VF-25: 1’33.071 (+3.723) 69 laps
17. Oliver Bearman – Haas VF-25: 1’34.745 (+5.397) 31 laps
18. Isack Hadjar – Racing Bulls 02: 1’35.282 (+5.934) 53 laps

Antonelli misses the apex of tour four by some distance and heads onto the run-off on the outside of the corner.

Leclerc is next to spin, gyrating his Ferrari at the opposite end of the main straight from Sainz. He gathers it up after bumping along the exit kerb at the final corner without hitting anything.

Pace-setter Sainz has a brief spin in the Williams at turn one at the start of his 64th lap. He may have been briefly distracted by Gabriel Bortoleto emerging from the pits. The car swapped ends just after the apex.

We’re an hour into the second part of the session and Leclerc has moved up into the top three with his current and last team mate:
1. Carlos Sainz Jnr – Williams FW47: 1’29.348 63 laps
2. Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari SF-25: 1’29.379 (+0.031) 45 laps
3. Charles Leclerc – Ferrari SF-25: 1’29.431 (+0.083) 18 laps
4. George Russell – Mercedes W16: 1’29.778 (+0.430) 71 laps
5. Andrea Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes W16: 1’29.784 (+0.436) 12 laps
6. Jack Doohan – Alpine A525: 1’30.368 (+1.020) 15 laps
7. Pierre Gasly – Alpine A525: 1’30.430 (+1.082) 40 laps
8. Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin AMR25: 1’30.700 (+1.352) 45 laps
9. Yuki Tsunoda – Racing Bulls 02: 1’30.793 (+1.445) 46 laps
10. Oscar Piastri – McLaren MCL39: 1’30.821 (+1.473) 44 laps
11. Gabriel Bortoleto – Sauber C45: 1’31.057 (+1.709) 10 laps
12. Liam Lawson – Red Bull RB21: 1’31.233 (+1.885) 53 laps
13. Nico Hulkenberg – Sauber C45: 1’31.457 (+2.109) 56 laps
14. Lando Norris – McLaren MCL39: 1’32.763 (+3.415) 3 laps
15. Esteban Ocon – Haas VF-25: 1’33.071 (+3.723) 69 laps
16. Oliver Bearman – Haas VF-25: 1’34.745 (+5.397) 20 laps
17. Isack Hadjar – Racing Bulls 02: 1’35.651 (+6.303) 19 laps
18. Lance Stroll – Aston Martin AMR25: 4 laps

Bearman drops a wheel into one of the few gravel traps at the Bahrain International Circuit.

A few more drops of rain are falling at the track now but it’s very light.

Sainz in the Williams takes the top time off Hamilton with a 1’29.366, that puts him ahead by his 0.031 seconds.

Lawson has rejoined the track less than half an hour into the second half of the session.

The session is go again and Sainz is already back on-track along with Isack Hadjar. No sign of Lawson, yet, after the problem which struck his car this morning – this is not what he needed on his last day in the car before next month’s season-opener.

For the afternoon session eight teams will swap drivers, with only Lawson and Sainz remaining in their cars.

Hamilton was fastest over the first four hours of today’s test. The second half is about to begin.

With five minutes to go the Virtual Safety Car test is now beginning.

Problem for Red Bull: Liam Lawson has covered just 28 laps, the least of any driver, and the screens are up at the garage as the team work on the RB21. Not clear what’s wrong there.

Contact! Piastri caught Hulkenberg in turn eight and went for the inside, and tapped the right-rear wheel of the Sauber. Both return to the pits.

Updated times with one hour to go:
1. Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari SF-25: 1’29.670
2. George Russell – Mercedes W16: 1’29.879 (+0.209)
3. Carlos Sainz Jnr – Williams FW47: 1’30.090 (+0.420)
4. Pierre Gasly – Alpine A525: 1’30.430 (+0.760)
5. Oscar Piastri – McLaren MCL39: 1’30.839 (+1.169)
6. Liam Lawson – Red Bull RB21: 1’31.233 (+1.563)
7. Yuki Tsunoda – Racing Bulls 02: 1’31.265 (+1.595)
8. Nico Hulkenberg – Sauber C45: 1’31.457 (+1.787)
9. Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin AMR25: 1’32.942 (+3.272)
10. Esteban Ocon – Haas VF-25: 1’33.350 (+3.680)

Now the times are improving again – first Russell beats the fastest time from last year’s test, then Hamilton regains his place at the top of the times with a 1’29.670. That’s two-tenths of a second quicker than last year’s top time, which was also set by Ferrari. Russell’s time is almost half a second faster than Mercedes’ best from this test last year.

The rain doesn’t seem to have deterred many runners, the track is still reasonably busy. No major changes in the times though Piastri has finally got a timed lap on the board.

The track has got busier but ominously Russell reports it’s “starting to rain more now.”

Nico Hulkenberg has joined the track too but the kerbs are clearly treacherous, he’s kicking up water whenever he touches them.

Russell heads out in his Mercedes and breaks the silence. He gives the W16 a good weave on the back straight as he searches for grip with his slick tyres on the still-damp track.

We’re past the two-hour mark in today’s test but the times have not changed over the last hour as hardly anyone has done any running in the damp conditions.

Esteban Ocon leaves the pits with a set of intermediate tyres on his Haas – there’s something we’re not used to seeing in Bahrain. Haas is one of just two teams to have selected intermediate tyres for the test. They have just one set, Aston Martin have three.

Still nothing of note going on at the track so here’s more from George Russell yesterday on his first impression of the new Mercedes.

The track has fallen silent now.

Hamilton reports back to Ferrari that the track is now “wet.” “Understood,” replies his new race engineer Ricardo Adami. The SF-25 peels off into the pit lane.

The rain has picked up again. Piastri and Sainz both suffer big snaps of oversteer entering the quick turn 11 and take to the run-off area.

Times at the end of the first hour – nothing yet from Oscar Piastri:
1. Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari SF-25: 1’30.080
2. Carlos Sainz Jnr – Williams FW47: 1’30.152 (+0.072)
3. George Russell – Mercedes W16: 1’30.379 (+0.299)
4. Pierre Gasly – Alpine A525: 1’30.846 (+0.766)
5. Liam Lawson – Red Bull RB21: 1’31.233 (+1.153)
6. Nico Hulkenberg – Sauber C45: 1’31.525 (+1.445)
7. Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin AMR25: 1’32.942 (+2.862)
8. Esteban Ocon – Haas VF-25: 1’33.771 (+3.691)
9. Yuki Tsunoda – Racing Bulls 02: 1’37.961 (+7.881)

That’s actually the quickest time of the entire test for Hamilton, three-tenths up on Lando Norris’s best time in the McLaren yesterday, and within a second of last year’s pole position time in Bahrain.

Hamilton has put up the quickest time of today so far with a 1’30.080 in his Ferrari.

Speaking of those two, Lawson got rather close to Sainz as they left the pits just then. Sainz pulled away doing a practice start as the Red Bull passed by.

Two drivers will conclude their tests today. Liam Lawson and Carlos Sainz Jnr will have a full day’s running for Red Bull and Williams respectively, before handing over their team mates for the final day.

The FIA will conduct a test of the Virtual Safety Car system, followed by two formation laps and a practice start in the final five minutes of this morning’s test.

Unusually, Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari has a pair of pitot tube arrays mounted on the leading edge of its front wing, measuring the airflow as it reaches the car and no doubt how it varies as the car pitches and rises under braking and acceleration.

Sauber have a problem with the rear wing on Nico Hulkenberg’s car when he activates his DRS. The element which changes position is activated is flapping strongly.

Surprisingly, rain was forecast for this session and there are a few drops falling as the drivers join the track.

The pit exit light has turned green and we have the first cars on-track already.

The following drivers will be in action this morning: Lewis Hamilton, Liam Lawson, George Russell, Fernando Alonso, Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon, Yuki Tsunoda, Carlos Sainz Jnr, Nico Hulkenberg and Oscar Piastri.

Welcome to day two of testing for the 2025 F1 season on RaceFans Live. The test will begin at 10am local time (7am UK time).

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