F1 pre-season testing LIVE: Stream and TV channel as Lewis Hamilton SPINS OFF track and Mick Schumacher gets a run out

IT HAS TAKEN TWO DAYS BUT FINALLY MERCEDES SHOW THEIR PACE

Valtteri Bottas goes into the top four and has now completed 39 laps.

After a difficult start where the Finn has a gearbox issue, Mercedes now look like they are back on track.

RED FLAG – SESSION STOPPED

The engine cover from Sergio Perez’s Red Bull has come loose and broken on track.

The session has been stopped while the marshals recover some of the debris.

Red Bull will now need to find out what caused that failure while they fix the new cover in place.

RELIABILITY IS LOOKING GOOD

Aside from the gearbox failures on Bottas and Vettel’s cars, there has been a refreshing about of reliability.

Yes, much of the aero parts are carried over, but the news power units all look rather strong this year.

Remember, teams only allowed to use three engines this season without penalty.

SOLID FROM ALPHATAURI AND ALFA ROMEO

The Red Bull B team finished 2020 so strongly and this year they are boosted by a new Honda engine, which has been rushed through ahead of schedule.

They are looking quick and reliable out on track and stepping out from Red Bull’s shadow.

Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi is also enjoying himself. Currently fourth quickest on track and having done 93 laps.

“PROMISING SIGNS” FOR FERRARI

CHARLES LECLERC is confident Ferrari are showing “promising signs” as they look to bounce back from last season.
The Italian team endured their worst finish in forty years as they were sixth in the constructors’ championship.
But after a winter of tweaking their car design, Leclerc says they are making improvements.
He said: “The impressions were good again. Yesterday we went through all the programme in the morning, but the conditions are very very tricky.
“It’s very warm, and very windy, so it’s very difficult to make a comparison with last year for now.
“And it’s all relative to the others: how much they improved compared to us.
“But yeah, there are some promising signs, but we can’t know until the first qualifying.”
The big issue Ferrari faced last year was their under-strength engine, which Leclerc was also an improvement this season.
He added: “Everything feels quite good. But again, it’s very difficult to comment now, nobody’s pushing everything to its limit, especially in these conditions.
“So for now it’s early days. But everything feels good and, as I said, stacks up with what we expected.”

NAKITA MAZEPIN HAS A CLOSE SHAVE

SERGIO PEREZ IS ON TRACK

There is a big hype around the Mexican driver who has joined Red Bull.

He obviously finished the season strongly at Racing Point and looking to get up to speed with his new team.

I expect him to use as much time as he can in this session to get to grips with this car.

His first practice race start was not good. But he is now away and ready to put in the laps.

STILL STRUGGLING WITH THIS LIVERY

FERRARI OUT ON TRACK

And it is Charles Leclerc who is now out on track. He’s used to this car and will be eyeing up the long runs, as his teammate Carlos Sainz didn’t look comfortable.

Sainz, who arrived at Ferrari from McLaren over the winter is slowly getting up to speed with their car.

DAY TWO, PART TWO OF F1 TESTING

The clock is ticking down as we pass the halfway stage of F1 testing. Only three days this year – usually it is eight, and more in the past.

So not long to iron out any problems, as Mercedes and Aston Martin are finding.

HALF WAY ON DAY TWO AND McLAREN AGAIN LOOK GOOD

The Woking-based team top the timesheets thanks to Daniel Ricciardo’s excellent laps.

It was very impressive from the team who have a new engine supplier in Mercedes.

Speaking of Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton spun off and he is clearly struggling with set-up issues.

And a big concern for Merc will also be the gearbox failure in Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin.

Aston are a customer of Mercedes and the problem limited the German to just nine laps.

It comes after Valtteri Bottas suffered a gearbox issue the previous day. So that’s to gearboxes in two days that need stripping apart and investigating.

VETTEL NOW ON TRACK

After a gearbox change, he is now back in the car and on track but like Bottas yesterday, he has lost a lot of time.

MORE WOE FOR LEWIS HAMILTON

LEWIS HAMILTON’s dreadful start to the season continued when he spun off in Bahrain and was left stuck in the gravel.
The world champion cut a dejected figure after losing control of his Mercedes at low speed.
Hamilton lost grip at Turn 13 and slid slowly backwards into the gravel at under 80mph.
Hamilton tried to drive away but his car was beached on the stone and needed rescuing from a pick-up truck.
Former F1 driver Martin Brundle said: “It’s so unusual to see Lewis looking at a stricken car these days.
“But he’s not exactly the only driver to be flying off the road today.”
Fellow ex-racer Karun Chandhok added: “It’s really rare to see a mistake from Lewis, especially at testing.
“I’m trying to think of all the pre-season tests I’ve been to in the last five, six years and I can’t think of one time he has been in the gravel.
“You see the odd thing where he goes off in the run-off area or something – but everyone does that. To see him cause a red flag, I can’t think of a moment like that.”
In further embarrassment, his Mercedes was lifted high into the air, exposing the car’s floor, which the team had tried to protect from prying eyes.
It follows on from Friday’s session where he finished 10th on the timesheets, while his teammate Valtteri Bottas suffered a gearbox problem.
It resulted in the team completing fewer miles than any other team when usually they display bullet-proof reliability during testing.
Bottas had questioned the team’s decision not to run a shakedown during an official filming day, something every other team took advantage of.
And on Friday night Hamilton said: “It wasn’t the cleanest of days that we’ve had but these things are sent to try you.
“Everyone has worked extremely hard to get us here. We had that mishap in the morning which was very unfortunate for Valtteri in terms of losing time on track and the team is working hard to try and understand what that was.
“The second session wasn’t without its challenges, but we exist to find solutions to the problems we are faced with.
“We have no choice but to take the positives. I remember in 2007 during testing I had 10 days in the car and now it’s getting less and less.
“We only have a day and a half in the car before the first race, with different tyres and different aero modifications so it’s not easy but it’s the same for everyone.
“I’d like to think my nine years’ experience with this team will help me get the best out of it.”  

BIG DEVELOPMENT DOWN AT ASTON MARTIN

Sebastian Vettel is out of his car, which is sitting in the team’s garage.

There is a suspected gearbox failure. And that if that is true, it will be a big worry for Mercedes, who supply the gearbox.

Valtteri Bottas lost a chunk of time on Friday due to a gearbox problem. Could this be a similar issue?

HEAD DOWN, CAR IN THE GRAVEL

YET MORE BAD NEWS FOR LEWIS HAMILTON

The Mercedes man spun off track earlier on this morning and his car was stuck in the gravel.
It is yet more concerns for both him and his Mercedes team after a difficult start to testing yesterday where they suffered a gearbox problem.
Hamilton cut a dejected figure as his car was lifted up out of the stones, displaying the car’s floor they have tried to keep secret.

VERSTAPPEN TOPS DAY ON OF TESTING

The Red Bull man topped the timesheets as Verstappen gets the season off to an excellent start.

Also a good day for McLaren and Alpine who both set quick times.

However, misery for Mercedes, who lost a chunk of time due to a gearbox problem in the morning while Lewis Hamilton was off the pace in the afternoon session.

IN TO THE FINAL 15 MINUTES OF DAY ONE

Still no good news for Mercedes as Hamilton drops to P10 on the timesheets. It will be interesting to see how the drivers react to this first day of testing.

INTO THE FINAL HOUR OF DAY ONE OF TESTING

And Max Verstappen has just gone quickest of the day.

TESTING CONDITIONS

THE ‘LON ROAD BACK

Fernando Alonso believes he is in the form of his life – despite not racing an F1 car in two years.

The two-time world champion has returned to the sport with the rebranded Renault team, now known as Alpine.

Alonso, who quit F1 in 2018, spent last year racing in the Dakar series and again missed out on winning the Indy 500.

But the 39-year-old says he still has unfinished business in the sport and decided to come back to F1.

He said: “The main thing of why I am here was because I felt that I was at my best in the last couple of years.

“I felt like I was driving better than evert and I had to make a decision on what was the next challenge after LeMans.

“And I thought that being at my best now, maybe Formula One was the place to be and I have time in the future to look at the challenges that were not completed.

“So that was the main thing, I felt that I had something to do here again.”

Alonso was quizzed if winning the title was within his grasp, as there is renewed hope at the French team.

He added: “To win races and championships, you need a few more things than just your motivation or beliefs.

“You need the package, the laps and the momentum and that is something we are looking to build with the new Alpine name.

“So yeah, I cannot guarantee it, but we will fight for those wins and championships in the future if we do those things but we are not racing alone.”

PEREZ AND SAINZ TAKE COVID-19 JABS

SERGIO PEREZ and Carlos Sainz have taken up Bahrain’s offer of COVID-19 vaccinations.
The Gulf Kingdom said they were happy to make the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine available to all those coming for the F1 test.
A second jab should be administered after the race on March 28th and while F1 said they did not want to be seen to jump the queue, some teams and drivers have taken up the offer.
Perez, who was struck down with COVID-19 last summer, said: “We got offered, and I took the decision to take it.
“For me, back in Mexico, I don’t know when I will be able to get it, so I think it was very nice from Bahrain to offer that to us. And, yeah, I took it myself.”
Sainz, who has joined Ferrari from McLaren, added: “Yes, same as Checo, I did take it.
“I think it was a great opportunity and obviously thankful for the Bahrain government for offering it to so many people that travel around the world and, yeah, happy with it.”
So far, Perez, Lance Stroll, Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc have all tested positive for the virus.

HULKENBERG TO RETURN TO F1?

NICO HULKENBERG could be offered another F1 return as a stand-in for Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes team.
The German was called up as a late replacement for Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll last season when the two Racing Point drivers were struck down with COVID-19.
Mercedes themselves were also forced to call in a reserve driver last season when Lewis Hamilton tested positive in Bahrain and George Russell had to fill in.
And now Merc boss Toto Wolff says his team could swoop for Hulkenberg, should their reserves, Stoffel Vandoorne or Nyck de Vries, be engaged in their Formula E commitments.
Wolf said: “There is a situation that our two reserve drivers, Stoffel and Nyck, are racing in Formula E and there are certain races where there is an overlap.
“I think Nico knows the current generation of Formula One cars and the tyres, and it would be good to have him in the line-up as a solution, maybe to be shared with other teams.
“He’s a known quantity and well respected, so it would be good, but it’s not yet… we didn’t put pen to paper.”

CONDITIONS IMPROVING

Verstappen still looking good in P1. Norris and Ricciardo in P2 and P3 in a good day so far for McLaren.

That’s a good effort following their power unit change from Renault to Mercedes.

In terms of concerns, Mercedes WILL be worried. It is a poor start from them after dominating for years.

A gearbox issue and now, while is has been fixed, there is something not right for Hamilton, who is in 14th place.
Bottas in P16, so that will be a concern.

VERSTAPPEN GOES QUICKEST

In windy and dusty conditions, the Red Bull man has bettered Daniel Ricciardo’s effort from this morning.

It’s Verstappen, Ricciardo, Gasly, Giovinazzi, Sainz, Ocon, Norris, Leclerc, Raikkonen, Vettel as your top 10 so far on Day One of testing.