Ferrari sets F1 testing pace after drain damage

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz set the pace on the second day of Formula One's pre-season testing in Bahrain on Thursday after the team changed the car's damaged floor following a loose drain cover incident.

The morning session was halted the first red flag of the year after the Spaniard's team mate Charles Leclerc ran over the cover at turn 11.

Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton also went over it, with debris flying in the air.

Teams have only one car each on track over the three days of testing at Sakhir, with Leclerc and Sainz alternating, and Ferrari took the SF-24 back into the garage for repairs with the shutters down.

Sainz took over in the afternoon/evening session, which was brought forward an hour to make up for the time lost to track repairs, and lapped with a best time of one minute 29.921 seconds on the second softest C4 tyre.

"Another day of testing completed according to plan and without issues," Sainz said.

"We managed to go through the whole afternoon programme smoothly, combining various tests with low and high fuel runs, so it was interesting to get a feel for this year’s car in different configurations."

Red Bull's Sergio Perez was closest to him on the slower C3 tyre, 0.758 off the pace, with Hamilton third and McLaren's Lando Norris fourth.

"We've clearly made an improvement with this year's car and it's much nicer to drive," said seven-times world champion Hamilton, who completed 123 laps.

Leclerc had topped the earlier timesheets in 1:31.750 on the C3 tyre with McLaren's Oscar Piastri 0.578 slower and Williams' Logan Sargeant third and 0.828 off the pace.

The Ferrari driver returned in the afternoon to complete his programme before handing over to Sainz.