The F1 pre-season tests in Bahrain kicked off with a dramatic turn of events as a Cadillac-triggered red flag halted the opening hour of day two. Sergio Perez's car, a Cadillac, unexpectedly parked on the back straight out of Turn 10 during the outlap, causing a three-minute red flag. This incident marked a significant interruption, as the car took longer than expected to be retrieved from the track, presumably via service roads. Despite the setback, Perez returned to the track after the morning stoppage, logging over 100 laps on the opening day. The first hour of day two was otherwise uneventful, with teams focusing on out-and-in laps and short runs. McLaren and Lando Norris, the pacesetters from the first day, maintained their lead with a couple of push lap runs on hard tires, nearly two seconds ahead with a time of 1m35.795s. Charles Leclerc made a strong showing just after the hour mark, setting the quickest time of the test so far at 1m34.442s. Pierre Gasly in the Alpine covered the most mileage in the first hour, completing 20 laps. However, Mercedes, Racing Bulls, and Aston, which had issues on the afternoon of day one, did not run extensively in the first hour but did complete at least a brief stint on the track.
