Mercedes finally click as Bottas tops F1 test

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

It may have taken four sessions but Mercedes finally resembled world champions on Saturday as Valtteri Bottas topped the timesheets on the second day of Formula One testing in Bahrain.

The Finnish driver posted a best 1 minute 30.289 seconds at the Sakhir circuit after team-mate Lewis Hamilton had struggled to eighth in a morning session - and second last overall - which included a spin-off the track.

Mercedes could only run for a limited time on Friday due to gearbox problems and both drivers when on track, looked to struggle in finding the balance of the car, said dpa.

Both will have one more session on Sunday to conclude the three-day test window and there are then two weeks to the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix. The usual curtain-raiser in Australia was postponed due to the coronavirus crisis.

Aston Martin also bounced back from a limited morning session for Sebastian Vettel as Lance Stroll was less than 2 tenths off Bottas with Pierre Gasly of Alpha Tauri squeezed in between.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t have a very productive morning, we had an issue with the gearbox and had to change it and that cost quite a bit of time," said Vettel. "So this morning was not of great use in terms of track time.

"We would have liked to have more data and more track time, but it is what it is, and we take it from here. It’s a long year and a long season and I’m sure it will be alright.”

Lando Norris of McLaren also posted a 1:30-time, two seconds quicker than colleague Daniel Ricciardo who led the morning session.

The difference is more likely to be McLaren adjusting settings and fuel load, two aspects which make judging times difficult, but the British team appear capable of building on their third-placed finish from last season.

Mick Schumacher was 12th for Haas while Fernando Alonso, on his return to F1 with Alpine, was 10th having been behind only Ricciardo in the morning running.