Fast Sainz, Mercedes and McLaren get it wrong in pre-season

SAKHIR, Bahrain (AP) — Formula One pre-season testing reveals who has the speed to win the title and who is starting to struggle.

While Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. set the tone in Friday morning’s second day practice session, Mercedes struggled with a set-up issue and McLaren admitted they hadn’t reached their own goals.

Sainz set the fastest lap so far in the two days of testing. American driver Logan Sargeant, who entered F1 with Williams, trailed by 0.063s on the softer, faster tyres.

Of the 10 drivers on track in the morning session, Mexican Sergio Perez finished seventh for Red Bull – unlike team-mate Max Verstappen, who set the fastest lap on day one – and Lewis Hamilton finished eighth.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff admitted the car was “unbalanced” for a second day.

“It’s hot and we just didn’t have the perfect setup for those conditions, which is part of what you learn with a new car,” Wolff told Sky Sports in the UK.

Mercedes driver George Russell has admitted the team may not be ready to fight to win when the season kicks off next week with the Bahrain Grand Prix.

“We’re confident that eventually we’ll have a car that can fight,” Russell said. “Whether we have him next week in Bahrain, I think that would be difficult.”

The times they set during the test week give the teams an estimate of the pace of the season with different setups, with high fuel loads to mimic race conditions. Title contenders might hide their real pace, while smaller teams may seek publicity with fast lap times.

Still, McLaren could have a rocky start to the campaign under Lando Norris and rookie Oscar Piastri.

“Like everyone else we have to develop, so we’re encouraged by what we’re seeing on the lap, but I think we’ll approach race one way short of our targets,” McLaren chief executive Zak said. Brown. “It’s hard to know where he’s going to put us on the grid.”