ROME – The second day of official Formula 1 testing in Bahrain has ended, with Ferrari continuing its work to find a balance with the new SF-23. The most encouraging smiles come right in the last available hour, in which Charles Leclerc lined up a positive long run with the C1, the hardest compound, closing several laps in a low 1’37” before inevitably climbing after almost 20 laps. Glimmers of light in view of the race, with results not too far from those of Max Verstappen, in the same conditions.In the early hours of the afternoon, however, various difficulties had emerged with the C3 compound, but even in this we need to understand how much the desire to take the configuration of the single-seater to the extreme. In fact, the Ferrari appeared much more balanced in its behaviour, in contrast to yesterday’s porpoising, and with understeer problems, while on the first day it was the oversteer that created difficulties. finished the day in eighth place, more than 1″ from the surprising Guanyu Zhou (who however used the softer compound, which will not be present on the race weekend; 1:31.610 his time) and from Max Verstappen. Sixth was Carlos Sainz, who had finished in the lead in the morning, also confirming a feeling that immediately appears good with the SF-23 in terms of race simulation. At this point there is great curiosity to know what set-up Ferrari will present on the third and final day of testing, tomorrow. Alonso third, how much work for Sargeant! Closing the podium of times is Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin, which increasingly confirms the good indications of these two days. Speaking of confirmations, the encouraging work of Williams continues, with Logan Sargeant closing the day with 154 laps to his credit: the American is seventh at +0.939, but the British team can smile above all for reliability. On the other hand, some problems for Mercedes, which in the afternoon, with George Russell, paid for a hydraulic problem, ending its day prematurely. In the end, the young Briton finished 13th at over 2″, while teammate Lewis Hamilton was 15th; the Silver Arrows, in general, still seem to be far away especially from Red Bull, which still appears to be the most ready car.
