Winter testing is in full swing: Our guide for day 2!

On Friday in terms of start times, nothing new under the hot sun: The tests are once again split into two sessions. In Bahrain, it starts at 10:00 am local time (8:00 am CET / 7:00 am GMT) and ends at 2:15 pm local time (12:15 pm CET / 11:15 am GMT). The afternoon session starts at 15:15 Bahrain time (13:15 CET / 12:15 GMT) and ends more than four hours later (19:30 local time).

Who will be in action on Friday?

Morning (Start 8:00am CET / 7:00am GMT):
Red Bull - Perez
Ferrari - Sainz
Mercedes - Hamilton
Alpine - Ocon
McLaren - Norris
Alfa Romeo - Zhou
Aston Martin - Alonso
Haas - Magnussen
AlphaTauri - Tsunoda
Williams - Sargeant

Afternoon (Start 13:15 CET / 12:15):
Red Bull - Verstappen
Ferrari - Leclerc
Mercedes - Russell
Alpine - Gasly
McLaren - Piastri
Alfa Romeo - Zhou
Aston Martin - Alonso
Haas - Hulkenberg
AlphaTauri - De Vries
Williams - Sargeant

What's the weather like in Bahrain?

Bahrain is no Spa-Francorchamps. Or Silverstone. If it was dry during the first day of testing on Thursday, it will be the same on the second day. Our guess? On Saturday, it might just as well be dry there in the desert. But we won't tell until the preview on the final day of testing. In any case, the drivers can again count on temperatures of around 26 degrees Celsius. Once the sun goes down, the temperature drops by about ten degrees.

What should we look out for during the second day of testing?

Options are aplenty, in fact. Will we see how Sergio Perez does compared to Max Verstappen? After all, the Mexican may make his first metres in the RB-19, after having to leave the car to the two-time world champion all Thursday. Or should our focus be on Mercedes? The German team seemed to have had a nice opening day and porpoising was out of the question. Only the gap with Red Bull Racing and Ferrari still seemed intact. Perhaps Mercedes will be closer to the top teams on Friday.

By the way, McLaren is also an interesting team to keep an eye on. All did not go smoothly for Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri's team. All the technical problems meant that only 92 laps were completed. So, with only three days of testing before the first Grand Prix gets underway, no time can be lost on Friday.

What about Aston Martin?

Yes, good of you to bring it up! Aston Martin, of course. The team knows - partly unintentionally - the spotlight will be fully on them during this test. After all, what is it with Lance Stroll? Of course, the Canadian is known to have had an accident with his bike. He was reportedly slightly injured. Meanwhile, more and more stories are surfacing that Stroll has broken both wrists. Even would have had surgery on one wrist. If this is correct, he may be out of the running for months.

Fortunately, there is his team's press office, which is pushing all rumours hard. Right? Not so. Stroll's medical situation is 'private'. So we do not know who will be at the start of the Grand Prix in a week's time in this same Bahrain. Will it be test and reserve driver Felipe Drugovich, who filled in for Stroll on Thursday morning and caused the only red flag of the day due to technical malfunction? Or will Stoffel Vandoorne, that other Aston Martin reserve, have to step up? The Belgian will race in Formula E next weekend and then travel on to Bahrain. Or do all rumours turn out to be hogwash and Stroll will 'just' step into the green car in a week's time.

In any case: Fernando Alonso will take charge of both sessions on Friday. Should Drugovich have to drive the Grand Prix, he won't be able to gain any useful experience with the Aston Martin on Friday anyway. By the way, we would almost forget that that Alonso went darn hard with the Aston Martin on Thursday and was almost as fast as Verstappen.

How do you follow all the action?

It was a long sit on Thursday, for all the fans. On Friday, we'll do it all over again. Of course, GPblog will keep you updated on all the action throughout the day via a liveblog. If you still want to watch it live yourself, you can go to Sky Sports or F1TV.