Magnussen Uses Bonus Hour for Haas to Set Fastest Time of Testing on Day 2

Kevin Magnussen utilised the extra hour given to the Haas F1 Team at the end of day two of testing at the Bahrain International Circuit to post the fastest time of the day, jumping to the top ahead of Scuderia Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr.

Magnussen, who earlier this week was announced as Nikita Mazepin’s replacement at Haas after the Russian was dropped as a result of his countries invasion of Ukraine and the backlash that followed, used Pirelli’s C4 tyre to post a lap of 1:33.207, three-tenths of a second better than that posted by Sainz.

Haas had been given an extra hour after losing all of Thursday morning’s running due to their freight running late and arriving well after it was meant to at the circuit.  They will also have additional running on Saturday as well.

The day was punctuated by numerous red flags, with Williams Racing’s Nicholas Latifi perhaps the most exciting of them as he suffered a spin following a fire surrounding his right-rear brake area.  The Canadian played fire marshal, with the tyre exploding before the fire was put out.  He could only complete twelve laps across the day as a result of the fire and the subsequent repairs the team needed to perform.

There were three further red flags in the afternoon session, with Esteban Ocon and Lando Norris both causing stoppages, while Valtteri Bottas brought the regular session to an early end as he also stopped on track.

Ocon, who had been fastest overall in the morning session, was able to quickly return to the circuit after his dramas, with the BWT Alpine F1 Team driver ending the day sixth overall.  Norris, again driving for the McLaren F1 Team as Daniel Ricciardo remained side-lined with illness, was also out quickly after his stoppage and ended eighth.

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN’s Bottas’ pre-season woes continued, with the Finn losing out on more track time as his car developed more issues – he ended the day eleventh fastest but with only twenty-five laps on the board.

Sainz had looked like he had done enough to put Ferrari on top with a best time of 1:33.532, with the Spaniard ending half a second clear of reigning World Champion Max Verstappen of Oracle Red Bull Racing.  However, neither of them could have predicted Magnussen’s lap late in the day!

Lance Stroll ended fourth for Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team, just ahead of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team’s Lewis Hamilton, while Ocon placed sixth ahead of the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

Behind eighth placed Norris was the second Aston Martin of Sebastian Vettel, although he also lost some track time after stopping on track midway through the morning session.  Yuki Tsunoda was the busiest driver on the day, with the Scuderia AlphaTauri driver hitting one hundred and twenty laps as he ended tenth overall.

Bottas ended eleventh ahead of Mick Schumacher in the second Haas, the German running the morning session before handing over to his new team-mate.  George Russell ended thirteenth for Mercedes, just ahead of his former team-mate Latifi, while the second Alfa Romeo of Guanyu Zhou brought up the rear of the field as he focused on high fuel runs rather than performance.

The final day of pre-season testing will take place on Saturday.  Can Haas prove that Friday’s times were not just a glory run, and will other teams remove the sandbags and push their way to the top?

Bahrain International Circuit Pre-Season Testing Day 2 Times