Bottas goes quickest on Day 2 as Mercedes begin recovery from tricky start to testing

Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas began the team's recovery after a difficult start to pre-season testing by setting the fastest time on day two in Bahrain, though team mate Lewis Hamilton brought out a red flag after a spin in the morning.

Bottas went top of the timesheets with a lap of 1m30.289s - though he did so using the softest C5 tyre compound, and with just 20 minutes of the session remaining when the track was at its fastest, so the Silver Arrows may still have work to do after a gearbox issue saw them miss almost all of the morning's running on Friday.

It initially didn't get much better for the reigning champions with Hamilton finishing 15th fastest after his morning appearance, with a spin at Turn 13 that brought out a 15-minute red flag.

After qualifying simulations began with an hour left of the day under the floodlights, runner-up Pierre Gasly briefly led, and ended up 0.124s behind Bottas on the same tyre. The AlphaTauri driver shared the car with Yuki Tsunoda, who finished 11th after running in the morning.

READ MORE: Morning report: Hamilton brings out red flags on Day 2 as Ricciardo and Alonso top the time sheets

Fourth-place Lando Norris also had a stint at the top of the time sheets but eventually finished fourth on soft C4 tyres. His team mate Daniel Ricciardo led the morning session and finished ninth overall using mediums.

The day's running was punctuated by two red flags, the first triggered by Hamilton's spin, and the second coming when eighth-quickest Sergio Perez’s Red Bull RB16B engine cover spectacularly dismantled as he pulled out from behind Nicholas Latifi’s Williams. Perez used hard tyres for his fastest lap.

Aston Martin's Lance Stroll finished third with a very late quick lap, but his team mate Sebastian Vettel was slowest of all, with just 10 laps completed thanks to a gearbox issue in the morning, which was fixed in time for Stroll's stint.

Alfa Romeo gave the whole day to Antonio Giovinazzi after Kimi Raikkonen drove on Friday, and the Italian completed 124 laps to finish fifth on the C5 compound.

READ MORE: Vettel rues lost time on Day 2 of testing after gearbox issue restricts him to just eight laps

Charles Leclerc couldn't beat the Alfa Romeo with his flying effort late on, and finished P6 on the same tyre as Giovinazzi having taken over from team mate Carlos Sainz (P13) in the afternoon. Sainz spun dramatically in the morning but managed 56 laps in total, Leclerc completing 73.

Two-time champion Fernando Alonso made his first appearance since recovering from a broken jaw sustained in a cycling accident last month, and he set 127 laps over the day with Esteban Ocon watching on. Alonso traded places with Ricciardo in the morning but the Australian came off best by a tenth in that session. Alonso managed to finish 10th overall by the end of the day.

Williams's Nicholas Latifi completed 132 tours, lapping solidly but for a spin in the evening as he attempted to pass a slow-going Charles Leclerc at Turn 1. The Canadian finished ahead of Red Bull's Perez on soft tyres, with George Russell set to take over for Williams on Sunday.

Haas had Nikita Mazepin begin the second day of testing and he finished 14th, with Mick Schumacher finishing 12th after running in the evening.

READ MORE: 'Probably a gain' to have missed Friday testing says Russell as he awaits turn in Williams

The final day of testing is already upon us as it begins on Sunday at 1000 local time, with Russell to take over the day for Williams while Mercedes attempt to make up for lost running on Friday and Saturday morning, as they prepare to mount their championship defence.

The headlines look ominous but the actual performance isn’t ominous at all from Mercedes just yet. Two sets of C4 tyres, two sets of C5 tyres – on the face of it  looks like they were going through the motions of dialling in performance. And they were only with the mix with Gasly on the same tyres, and the McLarens and Aston Martin as well.

Jolyon Palmer's Analysis

"The headlines look ominous but the actual performance isn’t ominous at all from Mercedes just yet. Two sets of C4 tyres, two sets of C5 tyres – on the face of it, it looks like they were going through the motions of dialling in performance. And they were only with the mix with Gasly on the same tyres, and the McLarens and Aston Martin as well.

"But it is impossible to know what fuel level they have on board, they are on similar tyres as the others, they are lapping at the same pace. At least one positive is they’ve done over 100 laps today, Bottas has had a fair crack at it, and they’ve run through the tyre compounds. The car looks more drivable but in terms of saying the car is at the front again and looking good, it’s impossible to say."