Perez recovers in afternoon session and forms top 3 with Sainz and Hamilton

The second day of winter testing in Bahrain is over. For Sergio Perez (P2), the afternoon session was a lot more positive than the one in the morning, in which he could only complete 20 laps. Together with Carlos Sainz (P1) and Lewis Hamilton (P3), he made up the day's top three.

The second morning session in Bahrain was an hour shorter than planned. After three hours, the session was halted due to a loose drain cover. This was dislodged by Lewis Hamilton and then hit by Charles Leclerc, which caused damage to the floor of his SF-24.

The result was a shortened morning session, as it was decided not to resume while they checked the circuit. This allowed the necessary repair work to be carried out. It was decided to extend the afternoon session by an hour to make up for lost time. As a result, the afternoon action started an hour earlier.

No Verstappen in the RB20

After Perez took care of the morning, Max Verstappen was scheduled to be in action in the afternoon. However, Red Bull Racing decided to give Perez the extended afternoon session because of the time he lost in the morning, not only because of the shortened session, but also because of problems with his overheated brakes. It was decided that Verstappen will drive on Friday afternoon.

Afternoon goes better for Perez

Leclerc finished the morning session fastest. Ferrari, which had also split the day for both drivers, took a different approach to Red Bull and decided to let Leclerc drive the first half-hour in the afternoon, then swap with Carlos Sainz. The latter continued the same line and drove on top for much of the afternoon session, but did so as the only driver on softs (with the exception of Williams driver Logan Sargeant).

After an hour and a half, Perez stalled on the track, then slowly drove back to the pits. This time there were no major problems for the Red Bull driver and he was soon able to return to the track. The rest of the session also went smoothly for the Mexican.

Perez managed to get close to Sainz in the closing stages of the afternoon, but had to settle for second place. Hamilton, who was unable to get anywhere near the top times for much of the session, closed in on P3. Sainz recorded the fastest time, but did so on softs, unlike Perez and Hamilton.