Alfa Romeo have continued their strong pre-season form with Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu going fastest on day two of testing in Bahrain.
Guanyu ran both the morning and afternoon session for his team to complete a massive 132 laps for the day. His 1:31.610, set in the afternoon, was enough to pip World Champion Max Verstappen by four one hundredths of a second.
Fernando Alonso also had a car to himself all day, completing 130 laps for Alpine to set the third fastest time, albeit half a second off Guanyu.
Nyck de Vries already looks comfortable with AlphaTauri and set the fourth best time of the day in the evening session.
Haas are also looking a team on the rise as Nico Hulkenberg ran fifth fastest, topping teammate Kevin Magnussen who ended 11th.
Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz set the fastest time of the morning before being bettered by five others in the afternoon. Charles Leclerc also slotted into the top 10 for the Italian outfit to place eighth.
Logan Sargeant was the driver to split the Ferrari’s, seventh fastest in a Williams car that looks to have made ground following a tough few years. The rookie had the entire day to drive and put in an incredible 154 laps, the most of any driver.
The other rookie in the field, Oscar Piastri, also seems to be coming to grips with McLaren to set the ninth best time ahead of Pierre Gasly who rounded out the top 10 for Alpine.
It was a slightly trickier day for Mercedes who are looking to bounce back after a disappointing 2022 season. George Russell was 13th fastest whilst Lewis Hamilton was 15th. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez split the duo.
There were some issues for the 2021 Constructor’s Champions in the mid-stages of afternoon running, Russell coming to a stop on-track with a hydraulic issue. The Brit was unable to return to action as a result and only clocked 26 laps as a result.
Mercedes were joined by both Williams and Alfa Romeo as teams to have technical gremlins. Zhou’s evening session ended 10 minutes early with gear shift issues whilst and electrical problem also relegated Sargeant to the lane in the dying stages.
Pre-season testing concludes tonight ahead of next weekend’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
| Driver | Laps | Gap | |
| 1st | Guanyu | 132 | – |
| 2nd | Verstappen | 47 | +.040 |
| 3rd | Alonso | 130 | +.595 |
| 4th | De Vries | 74 | +.612 |
| 5th | Hulkenberg | 68 | +.856 |
| 6th | Sainz | 70 | +.876 |
| 7th | Sargeant | 154 | +.939 |
| 8th | Leclerc | 68 | +1.115 |
| 9th | Piastri | 74 | +1.565 |
| 10th | Gasly | 59 | +1.576 |
| 11th | Magnussen | 67 | +1.832 |
| 12th | Ocon | 49 | +1.880 |
| 13th | Russell | 26 | +2.044 |
| 14th | Perez | 76 | +2.141 |
| 15th | Hamilton | 72 | +2.344 |
| 16th | Norris | 65 | +3.912 |
| 17th | Tsunoda | 85 | +4.098 |
Header Image: Alfa Romeo
