Bottas tops penultimate Bahrain pre-season testing, Perez eighth fastest
Published on 13 March 2021 by Mike Motilall
Valtteri Bottas finished at the top of the time sheet on the second day of the three-day pre-season testing in Bahrain. It took a while before the Mercedes-driver was able to get down on it, but the Finn eventually managed to log 58 laps with a 1:30.289 as his fastest lap time. Pierre Gasly, Lance Stroll, Lando Norris, Antonio Giovinazzi and Charles Leclerc rounded out the top six. Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Pérez was eighth fastest, running on the C2-tyres he clocked in a 1:31.682 as his fastest lap time. The Mexican lapped the track 117 times which meant this was another very productive day for the Milton Keynes based squad.
When lunch is over at 15:00 hrs. local time, the teams get back at the order of the day. At a few teams the driver line up has changed. Valtteri Bottas takes over from his Mercedes running colleague Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, at Ferrari, gets behind the wheel as oppose to Carlos Sainz and Yuki Tsunoda clears way for Pierre Gasly in the AlphaTauri. Also at McLaren, Aston Martin and Haas the drivers relieve each other.
After ten minutes, we see the first drivers head out under a clear blue sky. Despite the fine weather the wind hasn’t died down yet, this affected some drivers in the morning session.
It appears that the majority of the teams have set their focus on the longer runs during the first part of the afternoon session, nobody cares to top the leaderboard. After an hour, Sergio Pérez has managed to extend the total amount of laps to 58 in the RB16B. However, it is imperative that Aston Martin make tracks seeing that a gearbox issue in the morning led to Sebastian Vettel not being able to run for more than eight laps.
Halfway the easy going session, Daniel Ricciardo with his 1:32.215 is still the man to beat. Trailing him are Fernando Alonso, Sergio Pérez, Antonio Giovinazzi, Nicholas Latifi and Yuki Tsunoda; they round out the top six. At that moment in time, AlphaTauri and Haas have both done more than a hundred laps.
In the period that follows we see Lando Norris and Antonio Giovinazzi run around on the soft C4-tyre. They both clock respectively the first (1:31.239) and second (1:31.533) fastest time on the leaderboard. Sergio Pérez slots in not much later in third with a 1:31.926 driven on the C2-compound tyre.
With a little less than an hour and a half remaining on the clock, the session is halted for the second time today. Sergio Pérez’ engine cover blows off the car as he emerges from the slipstream from one of the Williams’. The Mexican is able to return back to the pits, but because of the debris on the straight, that section of the track needs to be cleaned up. After a few minutes, the track is cleared again and the teams can proceed with their respective schedules.
During the final hour of the second day of testing, more and more drivers strap on the soft compound tyres on their cars and we finally see the times on the sheet dropping. When the flag drops Valtteri Bottas is the man to beat as he finishes the day with a 1:30.289 on the C5-tyres. Pierre Gasly (C5), Lando Norris (C4), Lance Stroll (C4) and Antonio Giovinazzi (C5) keep the gap within half a second. Sergio Pérez finishes eighth fastest for Red Bull Racing. His fastest time was a 1:31.682 driven on the white walled C2-tyres.
Results Saturday afternoon 13 March, Bahrain:
