Oracle Red Bull Racing

Testing in Bahrain: Day 2 Report

Here's what happened on track during day two of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit.

After

lack

electric

power

the

Bahrain

International

Circuit

disrupted

yesterday’s

opening

day

2025

pre-season

testing,

today’s

second

outing

was

compromised

liquid-based

interruptions,

first

running

was

halted

rare

rain

showers

and

then

when

water

pressure

problem

sent

Liam

Lawson

back

the

garage

for

spell

work

the

end

the

morning

session.

In chilly ambient temperatures of 14˚C, and with the track just a degree warmer, the Kiwi kicked off his first full day at the wheel of the RB21 in decent style, working his way down to a time of 1:31.233s on C3 compound Pirellis across the first hourand a total of 15 laps. That time left Liam in fifth place as Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton set the pace at 1:30.080s on the same tyre compound. With temperatures like that in Bahrain, the team opted to run a race-simulation programme for general reliability checks, utilising unpredictable conditions to gain the most knowledge.

Soon after, Liam and others began to report that the drizzle that had come and gone through the early runs had turned to rain. With the bulk of the field selecting only dry weather tyres of their test allocation, it meant a retreat to the pit lane and a wait for better conditions.

F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit

Haas, along with Aston Martin, did request wet tyres however, and as an hour-long waiting game ensued for most, Haas’ Esteban Ocon did go out to test the conditions on intermediate tyres.

The rain eventually ceased and dry running got underway again, but this time it was without Liam. With a detected loss of engine water pressure, the team worked to rectify the issue before lunch allowing Liam to focus on the afternoon session. As he continued to rack up the mileage on his RB21, occasional servicing of the car was to be expected.

Liam's Ready For Day 2

Liam emerged for the final 40 minutes of the session on another set of C3 tyres. The run didn’t last long, however, and within three laps he was back in the garage for more tweaks. With six minutes left on the clock, the Kiwi headed out for his final laps of pre-season to do a practice start as Race Control tested its systems.

Liam’s 91 laps left him in seventh place on the timesheet, with a best time of 1:30.252. That was nine tenths off the day’s quickest man, Carlos Sainz, who also posted a whopping total of 127 laps on his full day at the wheel of the new Williams. Hamilton took P2, three hundredths off the pace, with his Ferrari teammate in third ahead of the Mercedes pair of George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

All this work is extremely valuable going into Melbourne and we feel in a positive place. This is all the most important stuff when it comes to pre-season...

Liam Lawson

"I am getting more comfortable in the car, it has been a busy day overall. As part of testing, we were fighting a few teething gremlins with the car through the day, it’s all about just learning about the new car. A few of our runs were cut short a little bit and we had to deal with the weather too, which wasn’t great timings for our run plan, as I imagine was the case for most of the pitlane. All this work is extremely valuable going into Melbourne and we feel in a positive place. This is all the most important stuff when it comes to pre-season, this will be the last time I drive the car before Melbourne, to get things right and we are going to take from all of it, to put together the best-balanced car for the first race." - Liam Lawson

For Liam, though, that’s pre-season done. Max takes over for the full final day, and Liam’s next date with the RB21 coming just over just over two weeks’ time, in Melbourne.