Sainz tops F1 testing in Bahrain, Magnussen back for Haas

SAKHIR, Bahrain (AP) — Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz set the fastest time during preseason testing on Friday, while Kevin Magnussen was back for Haas in the place of fired Russian driver Nikita Mazepin.

Sainz topped the Formula One charts with a lap of 1 minute, 33.532 seconds on the 5.4-kilometer (3.4-mile) desert track in Sakhir. Defending champion Max Verstappen was next for Red Bull, followed by Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.

Lewis Hamilton had the fourth-best time — 0.6 seconds slower than Sainz — in his new-look Mercedes that is the rage of the paddock because it sports much narrower sidepods compared to testing in Barcelona two weeks ago.

Haas dropped Mazepin from its drivers’ lineup because his father is a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Magnussen, who had driven for the American-owned team from 2017 through 2020, got behind the wheel after Mick Schumacher drove the morning session.

Haas was granted four hours of extra testing — one tacked on to Friday’s session and three extra hours scheduled for Saturday — to make up for time the team lost on Wednesday due to the late arrival of freight shipments that left the team without enough time to assemble its car.

Team principal Guenther Steiner said people were exhausted and would rather have had the time moved to Sunday, which was not approved.

“We never wanted extra running, we just wanted the same running as everyone else ... Some of the guys stayed up 30 hours to get the cars ready for yesterday (afternoon),” Steiner said Friday. “We just asked for Sunday morning, which was a better solution.”

Nicholas Latifi had a scare when his brakes burst into flames after just 12 laps, sending his Williams spinning to a stop. The Canadian driver grabbed a fire