SAKHIR, Bahrain — Mercedes and George Russell went to the top of the leader board on the opening day of the second preseason Formula 1 test Wednesday at Bahrain Int’l Circuit.
The times tumbled in the afternoon session with Russell turning in the best lap at one minute and 33.459 seconds. Russell turned the most laps of any driver at 76.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was second quick with a lap of 1:33.469.
Third on the board was Charles Leclerc, whose time for Ferrari held up from the morning session.
Fourth was Lando Norris for McLaren, while Kimi Antonelli was fifth for Mercedes.
Among the two new teams, Gabriel Bortoleto was 10th for Audi, with Valtteri Bottas 20th for Cadillac.
The notable absentee on track was Max Verstappen, the only driver not to take part in the day’s running, which concluded with a test of a new starting light sequence procedure.
