Alarm bells ring at Mercedes, as Zhou tops second day of testing

Zhou Guanyu leads the pack after the flag is flown on the second day of testing. The Chinese driver went for a glory lap in the last hour of the session which saw him rise above Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso in second and third. While it was Mercedes making waves but not in the way they would have wanted with George Russell having to call it a day due to a hydraulic failure.

Mercedes Failure

It might be time for alarm bells to start ringing at the (not so) Silver Arrows as they suffer a technical failure. Experiencing a reliabilty issue which cut short their shakedown test in Silverstone earlier this month, it was another critical failure on the Mercedes that brought Russell's session to an abrupt end with over an hour left on the clock. Mercedes might have to start worrying about the reliability for the upcoming season, something they would have avoided so far in the hybrid era.

Red Bull did also suffer an issue with Verstappen this afternoon as it's understood that his car had a oil leak which kept in the garage for an extended period of time. Although the problem was eventually resolved and the 2022 World Champion returned to the track after the red flag that was flown for Russell was cleared.

Williams look quick

Rookie Logan Sargeant impressed with over 150 laps completed for the Williams outfit today. It's clear that the rookie is getting ready for his new journey through a marathon and not a sprint. He completed more laps than anyone else while also sitting as high as P2 earlier this morning. His day ended with a dress reharsel of what to do when the car has a energy leak, which according to David Croft revealed an actual issue with the car with under 15 minutes to go.