Motor racing: Mercedes hit by hydraulics problem as Verstappen impresses
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Red Bull's Max Verstappen drives during the second day of Formula One pre-season testing in Bahrain.
PHOTO: AFP
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MANAMA – A hydraulics problem brought an early end to the second day of Formula One pre-season testing for Mercedes on Friday, while Red Bull’s two-time world champion Max Verstappen again looked the man to beat in Bahrain.
Verstappen was not top of the timesheets but Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu, who led the second session with the fastest lap yet, was on the much softer C5 tyres compared to the Dutch driver’s C3s.
“Today, we focused on the smaller details and took little steps,” said Verstappen, who handed over to Mexican teammate Sergio Perez for Saturday’s final testing day.
“Again, the car was responding well to everything we did... I’m very pleased with the testing period, every time I jumped in the car, I felt comfortable and could push instantly.
“We’ll have to see how quick we will be next week, but I’m feeling positive.”
George Russell brought out red flags when he stopped on track, his Mercedes stuck in fourth gear, with some 90 minutes remaining.
The car was recovered and did not go back out.
“We’ve not had a strong second day. Stopping on track with a reliability issue wasn’t great and we have struggled to get the car balanced well across the changing conditions,” admitted trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin.
Russell had already told reporters the team were struggling a little with the car’s balance and said it would be a bit of a stretch to expect Mercedes to be challenging for victory in next weekend’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
The Briton ended the day 13th of 17 drivers on track, with seven-time world champion teammate Lewis Hamilton, who went out in the morning, 15th.
However, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff told Sky Sports television that the former champions were “hiding” their true pace.
Verstappen set his time of 1min 31.650sec in the afternoon, before Zhou went 0.040sec quicker in cooler evening conditions.
Spain’s two-time world champion Fernando Alonso was third-fastest for Aston Martin, with the team looking seriously quick with a car designed under former Red Bull aerodynamics head Dan Fallows.
Alonso did a hefty 130 laps, with teammate Lance Stroll ruled out of the test after suffering a cycling injury while training in Spain.
George Russell’s Mercedes is taken back to the pits after stopping out on track.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was fastest in the morning, before teammate Charles Leclerc took over in the afternoon.
“It’s been another positive day. Reliability was again very good and we’ve been able to explore all the set-ups we targeted to test,” said the Spaniard.
“We keep exploring the limits of the car and finding potential areas where we can maximise performance. The main target is to keep up the good work tomorrow and get ready for next week.”
American rookie Logan Sargeant was second-fastest for Williams in the morning and, perhaps more impressively, did a mighty 154 laps over the day, more than anyone else. REUTERS
