Esteban Ocon was quickest for Alpine as a fire on Nicholas Latifi’s Williams disrupted the second morning of Formula 1 testing in Bahrain.
Just like Thursday, the best times came in the second hour of running with the Frenchman using a set of C4 Pirellis to post a 1m34.276s and top the AM timesheet.
Ocon actually led most of the first four hours, with only a 25-minute spell when second-placed Charles Leclerc had displaced the Alpine driver.
The Monegasque was only 0.090s slower in the Ferrari despite using one step harder tyres.
Latifi’s stoppage though was the main drama of the morning, with a fire breaking out in the rear brakes and causing some damage to the surrounding bodywork.
A small fire breaks out on the Williams car…
But thankfully fireman @NicholasLatifi is on hand to extinguish ??#F1Testing #F1 pic.twitter.com/VJWDvehJPV
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 11, 2022
The Canadian actually helped in putting the fire out but the resulting red flag did cost teams over half an hour of track time.
Max Verstappen would be 1.5s slower than the leading duo in third for Red Bull, just ahead of Sebastian Vettel, who had a brief stoppage on track in the final hour before resuming.
An unwell Daniel Ricciardo meant Lando Norris continued for McLaren, with the Briton managing 29 laps as the Woking-based team continued to work on the braking issues which impacted Thursday.
Yuki Tsunoda was sixth, ahead of Valtteri Bottas, who brought an early end to the morning session by coming to a halt at Turn 8 in the final minutes.
? RED FLAG (again) ?
Bottas stops on track and that will see us to the end of the first session ⏱#F1Testing #F1 pic.twitter.com/ssW2p2orgJ
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 11, 2022
Mick Schumacher was eighth, although an apparent exhaust issue ended Haas’ morning early with just 23 laps on the board.
Mercedes sat only ninth with George Russell, but the Briton was focused on race stints as he managed the most laps of anyone with 67.
Latifi’s Williams brought up the timesheet.
Fastest = @OconEsteban ?
Most laps = @GeorgeRussell63 ⏱#F1Testing #F1 pic.twitter.com/NgZmcgOz2i
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 11, 2022