Daniel Ricciardo ended the morning session fastest for the second straight day at Formula 1 testing in Bahrain.
The new McLaren driver almost matched his best from Friday, posting a 1m32.215s on the C3 medium tyre, as cooler and clearer conditions greeted teams in the desert.
After a difficult first day, all eyes were on Mercedes on Saturday. Lewis Hamilton certainly had a more productive four hours with 58 laps, 10 more than the team did in the whole of Day 1.
However, the world champion did cause the only unplanned red flag after spinning into the gravel at Turn 13, as the wind remained an issue, and only set the eighth fastest time, 1.1s slower than Ricciardo.
The big talking point of Saturday morning 👀
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 13, 2021
A spin into the gravel disrupted running for @LewisHamilton and @MercedesAMGF1, but they were back up and running soon after 👍#F1 #F1Testing pic.twitter.com/bmTXFa84YD
More worryingly, Mercedes' gearbox problems also continued, as Sebastian Vettel managed just six laps before having to return to the garage in his Aston Martin.
Much like Valtteri Bottas on Friday, Vettel did get out again late on but only added four more laps to his initial six and finished bottom of the timesheet.
At the other end, Fernando Alonso finally got his first run in the Alpine but was immediately on the pace, finishing a tenth behind the McLaren in second despite using the harder C2 tyre compound.
After Red Bull's big day on Friday with Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez had a steady morning with just 39 laps but was third quickest on the same tyres as Alonso.
Nicholas Latifi was fourth for Williams as he tried the C5 Pirelli rubber, the softest in the range. This after ruining a set of tyres in a spin.
The Canadian was ahead of Yuki Tsunoda in fifth, as the Japanese F2 graduate continued his strong start to testing in the AlphaTauri.
Biiiig sideways moment for Carlos Sainz, as he negotiates the twisty middle sector 👀#F1 #F1Testing pic.twitter.com/wXQtsGNeCA
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 13, 2021
A spin for Carlos Sainz proved the Spaniard was still appeared to be trying to tame his new Ferrari as he finished sixth.
Nikita Mazepin topped the lap charts with 76 tours of the Sakhir track in seventh for Haas, three more than Antonio Giovinazzi, who also appeared to focus on long-run pace in the Alfa Romeo.
Full results from the morning in Bahrain can be seen below:
