Mercedes suffer engine trouble as testing delays mount in Bahrain

Kimi Antonelli has emerged after two hours of a morning session which has been disrupted by a change required to the Silver Arrows power unit.

The delays add to a difficult Day 1 in Bahrain, where a suspension issue meant that Antonelli could only get 3 laps of running.

Reporting at the Bahrain International Circuit, GPblog can confirm that Mercedes have had to swap their engine on Day 2, which explains why they were slow to emerge in the morning session.

Antonelli has so far only completed three laps on the softest compound tyre today, after facing mechanical issues on Day 1.

Yesterday, Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin explained Mercedes suspension struggles, which limited them to just 30 laps on a baseline run on hard compounds.

In a press release, Shovlin said: "During the various changes, we discovered an issue on the suspension that required further investigation. That cost us a couple of hours and, once we had left the garage, we only had time remaining for two sets of the hardest tyre to baseline the car and work on our long running."

Mercedes are not the only ones without issues on Day 2, as Red Bull have also had their morning session disrupted by an overnight issue.

Isack Hadjar was supposed to run all day like Max Verstappen did yesterday, but has had to wait. GPblog confirmed Red Bull still wanted to get 2 hours of running done in the morning, but Hadjar is still yet to appear on track.

Despite the issues today, Toto Wolff has claimed Red Bull are up to one second a lap quicker than Mercedes on the straights in Bahrain.

Verstappen's impressive and consistent speeds have led Wolff to argue Red Bull are the early season favourites.