Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz set the fastest time in Formula One testing on day two, delivering a timely reminder of his talents ahead of his final season with the Italian giants.
Sainz, who will lose his seat to seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton at the end of 2024, clocked a best time of 1min 29.921sec on the Sakhir circuit.
Sergio Perez, taking over from defending champion Max Verstappen in the Red Bull, was 0.758sec behind with Hamilton third fastest, more than a second off the pace in his Mercedes.
For the second day in a row, Daniel Ricciardo stunned once again as he finished fifth on the leaderboard marginally behind former teammate Lando Norris.
Despite Sainz’s strong showing, the concensus among some of the other top drivers on the gird remained that Red Bull is still the clear team to beat ahead of the season-opening race.
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“My initial feeling is that Red Bull unfortunately remains quite a bit ahead,” Sainz’s Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc said.
“They are in such a great momentum at the moment,” added Mercedes’ George Russell.
“They started these new regulati...
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