Bottas tops morning session as Ferrari hits trouble

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Valtteri Bottas topped the timesheets Wednesday morning in Bahrain on the second and final day of in-season testing at Sakhir.

Mercedes continued a programme initiated yesterday with Lewis Hamilton and centered around tyre degradation on long runs and aero work.

Bottas was relentless all morning, clocking in with 78 laps and a best time of 1m 31.771, comfortably ahead of Force India's Esteban Ocon who will hand over the pink car to Sergio Perez for this afternoon.

The Finn brought out a red flag however when his W08 stopped at Turn 4 just before ending his morning session.

Sebastian Vettel was fourth fastest just behind Toro Rosso's Dany Kvyat but only accomplished a handful of laps as the Ferrari remained parked in its garage for the better part of the morning following the detection of leaks associated with some internal components.

The problem imposed on the Scuderia's crew a dismounting of the SF70H's power unit which was reassembled in time for Vettel to add a few laps to his tally.

Gary Paffet was back behind the wheel of an F1 car for the first time since 2013, with the Williams development driver running fifth fastest, ahead of McLaren's Stoffel Vandoorne.

Contrary to Oliver Turvey yesterday, Vandooren was awarded 49 trouble-free laps, something of a major achievement these days at McLaren-Honda.

Magnussen, Sirotkin, Gasly and Weherlein all completed their respective programmes without any drama.

GALLERY: All the action from the Day 2 in-season testing at Bahrain

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.