F1 Preseason Testing: Sainz Jr. tops Day 2 testing in Bahrain

Williams F1 driver Carlos Sainz Jr. turned a lap of 1m29.348s to beat Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari time of 1m29.379s set in the morning to top the 2nd day of F1 Preseason Testing at the Bahrain International Circuit.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Williams F1 driver Carlos Sainz Jr. was quickest in Bahrain. Photo supplied by Williams

Hamilton’s lap, set in qualifying trim, was 0.031s slower than Sainz Jr, but for the most part 99% of the laps turned on Thursday will long race runs.

Charles Leclerc was third quick in his #16 Ferrari, 0.083s behind Sainz.

Charles Leclerc of Monaco driving the (16) Scuderia Ferrari SF-25 on track during day two of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on February 27, 2025 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images for Pirelli)

The Mercedes of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli rounded out the top-5, 0.430s and 0.436s behind Sainz respectively.

George Russell of Great Britain driving the (63) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team W16 during day two of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on February 27, 2025 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images for Pirelli)

Eight hours of testing stands between these teams and the first race of the season. There is just one day to go, and tomorrow sees Verstappen back in at Red Bull, and Albon take over at Williams.

The other teams will be splitting duties between their drivers again, with plenty of questions renaming unanswered. Red Bull are an unknown quantity after spending a little longer than expected in the pits today, but McLaren and Ferrari look really good, while Mercedes sound confident.

Esteban Ocon of France driving the (31) Haas F1 VF-25 Ferrari during day two of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on February 27, 2025 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images for Pirelli)

2025 F1 Preseason Testing Day 2 Results

Pos	Driver	Nat.	Team	Time	Behind	Laps
1	Carlos Sainz	ESP	Atlassian Williams Racing	1m29.348s	0.000s	127
2	Lewis Hamilton	GBR	Scuderia Ferrari HP	1m29.379s	0.031s	45
3	Charles Leclerc	MON	Scuderia Ferrari HP	1m29.431s	0.083s	83
4	George Russell	GBR	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	1m29.778s	0.430s	71
5	Andrea Kimi Antonelli	ITA	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	1m29.784s	0.436s	87
6	Lance Stroll	CAN	Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team	1m30.229s	0.881s	57
7	Liam Lawson	NZL	Oracle Red Bull Racing	1m30.252s	0.904s	91
8	Jack Doohan	AUS	BWT Alpine F1 Team	1m30.368s	1.020s	80
9	Pierre Gasly	FRA	BWT Alpine F1 Team	1m30.430s	1.082s	40
10	Isack Hadjar	FRA	Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team	1m30.675s	1.327s	94
11	Fernando Alonso	ESP	Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team	1m30.700s	1.352s	45
12	Yuki Tsunoda	JPN	Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team	1m30.793s	1.445s	46
13	Oscar Piastri	AUS	McLaren F1 Team	1m30.821s	1.473s	44
14	Lando Norris	GBR	McLaren F1 Team	1m30.882s	1.534s	77
15	Gabriel Bortoleto	BRA	Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber	1m31.057s	1.709s	80
16	Nico Hulkenberg	GER	Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber	1m31.457s	2.109s	56
17	Esteban Ocon	FRA	MoneyGram Haas F1 Team	1m33.071s	3.723s	69
18	Oliver Bearman	GBR	MoneyGram Haas F1 Team	1m34.372s	5.024s	66