Leclerc leads Norris early in Bahrain after issues hit Mercedes and Red Bull

The second morning of winter testing at the Bahrain International Circuit saw issues for Red Bull, with GPblog confirming that the Austrian team would miss the first two hours of the day.

136 laps were completed by Max Verstappen during the opening day of testing, topping the timing sheets in the morning session, but no morning running could be completed.

No confirmation was given as to what the issue was, but what was expected to be a two-houe delay for Red Bull turned into a missed morning session.

It wasn't just Red Bull that had troubles throughout the first four hours of the day, as Mercedes saw their morning session curtailed by issues.

Kimi Antonelli was expected to take to the track for the German team, but only three laps were able to be done by the Italian before had to bring his machine back into the garage.

The disruption was caused by an engine issue, resulting in a change to their power unit before the afternoon session, GPblog can confirm.

On the track, it was Charles Leclerc and Ferrari who were the team to beat, with a 1:34.273 the fastest lap put down by anyone on day two of testing.

World Champion Lando Norris set a 1:34.784 to put his McLaren in P2, but his 64 laps were the most of anyone, just two more than Leclerc's 62 laps.

The Alpine of Pierre Gasly rounded out the top three, while Oliver Bearman and Alex Albon finished the morning session in P4 and P5, respectively.

Nico Hulkenberg finished sixth for Audi come the end of the four-hour session, with Liam Lawson and Racing Bulls were eight-tenths behind the German in P7.

Cadillac's Sergio Perez and the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso rounded out the top ten.

The second of three days of testing will resume with the afternoon session, with four more hours of running to come after this morning's session. Night-time conditions will take centre stage, offering weather conditions that are more representative and closer to what teams will face later in the season on race weekend.