Magnussen sets new benchmark during extra Haas F1 running

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz had held the quickest time at 7pm local time when nine of the 10 teams finished their running for the day, but Magnussen went even faster when he had the Bahrain International Circuit all to himself for an extra hour. 

The Dane, who has completed a shock return to F1 with Haas as replacement for the axed Nikita Mazepin, posted a 1m33.207s to usurp Sainz’s previous best time by three-tenths on Pirelli’s C4 compound. 

Haas was given permission to complete an extra hour of testing to make up for its lost half-a-day on Thursday after seeing its plans curtailed by freight delays. 

A technical issue grounded the plane that was due to transport the American outfit’s cargo from the UK to Bahrain earlier in the week, forcing Haas to miss the first four hours of running on the opening day. 

The team will also conduct an extra three hours of running on Saturday to compensate for its missed track time, having seen a bid to run on Sunday - after the official test ends - blocked. 

Haas will run its VF-22 car exclusively for one hour between 9am local time, before the rest of the teams and drivers join from 10am, and then complete a further two hours at the end of the second and final session, running until 9pm.