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Bahrain test update: Hamilton and Mercedes bounce back as Gasly surprises on second day of testing

Mercedes finished day two of testing atop the timing sheets with Valtteri Bottas impressing in the afternoon on the softest compound of tyre. It was a welcome sight for the German outfit after having their fair share of issues on Friday, with Lewis Hamilton also getting in his fair share of laps.

Valtteri Bottas finished day two of testing atop the timing sheets as Mercedes bounced back, with the Finn and Lewis Hamilton putting in significantly more laps compared to Friday. The Finnish driver finished with a lap time of 1:30.289, which was 0.124 faster than Pierre Gasly in the AlphaTauri. Lando Norris who took over from McLaren teammate Daniel Ricciardo for the afternoon session, finished fourth after Aston Martin's Lance Stroll put in the third fastest lap of the day in the final stages of the session. Mercedes finally showed some pace and reliability, completing 116 laps combined with Bottas showing some real pace in the afternoon. It was a welcome sight for the German outfit, as even though Hamilton finished the day with the 15th fastest time, he was able to complete 58 laps as Mercedes look to clock as many kilometres as possible. After Red Bull impressed on Friday, Sergio Perez took the track on Saturday. The Mexican finished with the eighth fastest time, but he did bring the session to a halt with a little over an hour left as his engine cover blew straight off while driving behind the Williams of Nicholas Latifi. Ricciardo topped the morning session with a lap time of 1.32.215, which was good enough for eighth overall. He was followed by Alonso who finished a little over a tenth behind, with the Spaniard finally taking to the track after Esteban Ocon ran on Friday. Alpine will no doubt be happy with the 127 laps completed by Alonso. Carlos Sainz started the day for Ferrari and managed the 13th fastest time while completing 56 laps. Charles Leclerc took over in the afternoon and while he finished the day 0.597 seconds behind Bottas, things just didn't seem to click for the Scuderia over the course of the day. Antonio Giovinazzi has put in an impressive shift as the Italian finished the day fifth, though perhaps more impressive are the 124 laps completed. The biggest talking point from the morning session came when Hamilton beached his car forcing the session to be red-flagged. Bottas also had some minor issues at the start of the afternoon session, but in the end the team look much improved after their difficult start to the weekend. Aston Martin also had their own problems as Sebastian Vettel's Mercedes gearbox limited his time on track. The German ended the day with just 10 laps completed.

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