The performance of the replacement for the Russian Nikita Mazepin, ousted following the invasion of Ukraine, is however to be taken with a grain of salt: his time of 1:33.207 was achieved after 7:00 p.m. local (5:00 p.m. French), in a cool more favorable to speed.

The competition had already returned to the garage by then, Haas having obtained authorization to drive later to make up for its missed morning on Thursday due to a delay in the delivery of its freight.

Magnussen, in any case, does not seem to suffer too much for his return after a season away from F1 in 2021.

Behind him, Ferrari continued to impress with the second fastest time for Spaniard Carlos Sainz Jr. That was enough to make the Scuderia the pre-season favourite.

Spaniard Carlos Sainz Jr, driving his Ferrari, during the second day of Formula 1 winter testing on March 11, 2022 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir Mazen Mahdi AFP

"For the moment, Ferrari seems to be the strongest overall," said Briton George Russell (Mercedes) on Thursday.

"Ferrari seems to be the team in form of the moment," added Friday the boss of Red Bull Christian Horner, who also quotes his own, Mercedes, McLaren or Alpine.

Before recalling that some are hiding their game and that we will only see clearly during the first qualifications next Saturday in Bahrain.

"It's typical of Mercedes to praise the others before crushing the competition in the first race", sweeps Sainz himself, suggesting that the GPS data shows that the German team is keeping it under the pedal.

Ricciardo positive for Covid

Sainz's time (1:33.532), more representative than that of Magnussen, places him in any case 479/1000 ahead of the Dutch world champion Max Verstappen (Red Bull), third, and 609/1000 ahead of the British vice-champion Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), fifth, the Canadian Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) intercalating in fourth position.

Dutch world champion Max Verstappen, driving his Red Bull, during the 2nd day of Formula 1 winter testing on March 11, 2022 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir Mazen Mahdi AFP

The second Ferrari of Monegasque Charles Leclerc is seventh but it drove in the morning, in the heat making the track slower.

The Alpine of Frenchman Esteban Ocon is sixth despite a stop "as a precaution" which caused a red flag in the afternoon.

Briton Lando Norris has replaced his teammate Daniel Ricciardo who tested positive for Covid-19 but should be able to participate in the first GP of the season on the same circuit on March 20.

Norris set the eighth time despite brake problems and will again replace Ricciardo on Saturday for the third and final day of these tests.

Nicholas Latifi (Williams), he was only able to complete 12 laps in the morning, before stopping to put out his flaming rear brakes.

“The issue that caused the fire was quite minor,” his team said on Twitter.

"It's not as bad as the images suggest but there is some fire damage to the rear of the car that the team needs to fix."

"Innovative car"

Off the track, Christian Horner has finished burying the controversy over the bodywork of Mercedes and the almost absent sidepods on the sides of the single-seater.

Thursday morning, the specialized media Auto Motor und Sport had reported the doubts of the Briton concerning the compliance of this F1 with the regulations.

Quickly, Red Bull denied and Horner explained himself at a press conference on Friday.

“The comments quoted were certainly never made, he says. The car is innovative, this interesting solution. As far as we are concerned, the Mercedes complies with the rules which have just been interpreted differently.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner during the official presentation of the Red Bull Rcing RB18 on January 26, 2022 in the team's workshops in Milton Keynes (Eng), which will participate in the new Formula 1 season Bryn Lennon Red Bull Content Pool/AFP/Archives

It remains to be seen "if it's fast or not", continues Horner.

"Only time will tell but, in terms of compliance, it's up to the International Automobile Federation (FIA) to judge."

However, the motorsport regulator has given the green light, assured Toto Wolff, the boss of Mercedes, on Thursday.

So who is the real favorite in 2022?

The last day of the winter tests will allow us to learn a little more.

Not unlike the previous season, the first test session in Barcelona at the end of February was dominated by Mercedes ahead of Red Bull...

© 2022 AFP