It was an interesting second day of preseason Formula 1 testing with surprise performances, on both sides of the coin, with Alfa Romeo and Aston Martin impressing, Mercedes experiencing problems while Ferrari and Red Bull kept their powder dry.
Despite the Mercedes stoppage, it can be said the cars of today are bulletproof and enable drivers to do some serious mileage at the Bahrain Grand Prix venue.
George Russell coming to a halt - which triggered a 15-minute red flag period as the stricken W14 was retrieved - was the biggest news of the day as the former World Champions seem as perplexed by their new car as they were with the W13 last year; Lewis Hamilton reporting as much.
Here is a summary of what teams and drivers had to say, in the order their end-of-the-day summaries from Bahrain, dropped into our inbox:
AlphaTauri: In terms of performance it is hard to say
Nyck de Vries: “It’s been another positive day, even though we had a red flag. The session was suspended, but we still managed to get through our program. We were able to test quite a few things, so in terms of our day we are happy. In terms of performance, it is hard to say. We have one more day of testing tomorrow, so hopefully, we can complete everything and put it all together for the race.”
Yuki Tsunoda: “This morning we achieved the most laps compared to the rest of the field, so it was a good session. This also allowed us to catch up on our programme, as we fell short on the number of laps we wanted to run yesterday.
"Today we mainly focused on long runs where we found some limitations, but at the same time, there are positives to take from the good data we gathered for the race, which we can continue to build on tomorrow.
"Overall, I’m happy with my driving and feedback to the team, which is constantly improving. I will continue to work like this, and I’m excited to start working on short runs tomorrow.”
Jonathan Eddolls, Chief Race Engineer: “Overall, we had a very productive day of testing. The car was very reliable and enabled us to complete 159 laps with no major issues. Yuki was in the car in the morning and, after the usual rake running to start with, he went straight into a race simulation to begin preparations for Round One.
"We completed a two-stop strategy and tested the new Pirelli C1 compound as part of that, to gather important data ahead of next week. Yuki closed the morning with some set-up work, trying to improve the balance in the hot conditions.
"Nyck took over in the afternoon and the focus was on aero work, trying some larger set-up items which we wouldn't usually have the opportunity to test during the time-limited Free Practice sessions. Nyck then made very good progress with a series of new tyre runs towards the end of the day, finding lap time and improving on each set, which was great to see.
"The testing today has highlighted some areas of the car performance that we need to dig into deeper tonight through data analysis, so we can make changes and find even more performance for the final day of F1 testing tomorrow.”
Alpine: The usual teething problems
BWT Alpine F1 Team completed 108 laps today as pre-season F1 testing entered its second day at the Bahrain International Circuit.
Esteban Ocon continued driving duties in the morning session having driven yesterday afternoon with Pierre Gasly taking over after the lunch break to complete the day.
Esteban’s morning was slightly hindered by minor interruptions as he completed 49 laps while Pierre rounded off the day by taking the team over the century mark with 59 laps across the afternoon-evening session.
The team looks to close off the three-day test tomorrow with a busy programme with Pierre returning to the A523 in the morning before Esteban finishes the test in the afternoon.
Pat Fry, Chief Technical Officer: “It’s been another productive day of testing for the team today with Esteban in the car in the morning and Pierre in the afternoon. With only three days of testing, we always aim to be ambitious by fitting in a busy programme packed with many different test items and, subsequently, various set-up changes.
"While we managed to complete over 100 laps today, the usual teething problems that do occur at pre-season F1 testing did pop up throughout the day and that certainly held us back from completing more mileage.
"Nevertheless, we’ve gathered plenty of useful data to work through to help us continue our learning process of our 2023 package. In addition, it was good to have a smooth evening run under representative conditions with an eye on preparing for next weekend’s first race of the season.”
Ferrari: We keep exploring the limits of the car
On this second day of F1 testing, the SF-23 completed a further 138 laps (747 kilometres), with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc both driving the car, as they did yesterday.
Once again, it was Carlos who drove first, continuing the work on set-up and tyre evaluation, running Pirelli’s prototype compound and the C3. The Spaniard ran with different fuel loads, setting a best time of 1’32”725. After doing 72 laps yesterday, he added 70 today.
Charles also worked on set-up, as well as evaluating the C2 compound tyres followed by the C3, with which he set his best time of 1’32”725. In the final part of the session, he ran in race trim with a heavier fuel load, bringing his total laps for the day to 68 (making a total of 132 so far).
For tomorrow’s final day of F1 testing, Charles will drive in the morning before passing the baton to his teammate at the lunch break.
Carlos Sainz: "It’s been another positive day. Reliability was again very good and we've been able to explore all the set-ups we targeted to test. We keep exploring the limits of the car and finding potential areas where we can maximise performance. The main target is to keep up the good work tomorrow and get ready for next week
Charles Leclerc: "We ran various tests today, with our main focus on the car’s set-up. We are working hard and it’s still too early to make any judgement yet. It was good to get some more laps down and we will keep pushing forward by analysing our data ahead of the last day of testing tomorrow."
Haas: We’ve learned a lot of things
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team drivers Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg completed a total of 135 laps on the second day of pre-season F1 testing at the Bahrain International Circuit.
Magnussen was behind the wheel of the VF-23 for the opening session, focusing his efforts on three areas. Aero testing was completed during the installation lap, while a large part of the morning was spent on developing mechanical balance to compare against data from the day before.
The final stint of the morning was spent on high-fuel runs, racking up a total of 67 laps before the lunchbreak. Magnussen set a fastest lap time of 1:33.442 (P11).
Hulkenberg returned for the afternoon with reliability being the main objective for the session. As dusk descended with 90 minutes left on the clock, a red flag was brought out for the stricken Mercedes of George Russell. 15 minutes later running resumed, and the German headed back out on track with the C4 tire for the first time. An additional three runs to the end of the session resulted in a total of 68 laps, with a fastest lap time of 1:32.466 (P5).
Kevin Magnussen: "It feels good but it’s always hard to see where you are against your competitors. So far, we feel good and we’re happy with what we’ve got. We need to do more work to understand the car better and today we got into a different area, trying things we didn’t yesterday, so we’re learning. There have been very few problems and we’re now getting into more performance-related testing which is nice and more interesting for us."
Nico Hulkenberg: "Today was a positive day - it was a good, busy afternoon where we got lots of things done I feel and a lot of interesting data collected as well. Also for myself I’m building more of a connection with the car and trying it in different conditions, as you do in testing.
"I don’t think a qualifying run is the number one priority for me – I’ve done enough and I know what’s coming – and I drive in the morning tomorrow where the temperatures are not as representative."
Simone Resta, Technical Director: "Today our plan was to start, in the morning, with some aerodynamic measurements while still targeting to stay as much as possible on track and get mileage in. We were then testing through different compounds, different fuel levels and several test items including various procedures.
"This afternoon we repeated a similar program with different compounds and a wider range of fuel levels. We ended up completing 135 laps on the day, so it’s been quite a positive day. We’ve learned a lot of things and we’re putting together all the best conclusions approaching the third day of testing – we try to put everything together to end the test on a high."
Red Bull: The car responded well to everything we did
Sergio Perez: “I was happy to be back behind the wheel of the RB19 this morning. We mainly focussed on the long run, to make sure the car was reliable and that was the main priority. The car feels good, we have a good pace and hopefully we can get some good fine tuning in on Saturday.
"There are little differences to the RB18, which are mainly dictated by the change to the tyres but generally speaking it is pretty similar. I am happy in the car and I think we are in a good place.
"Now I am looking forward to getting a full day in the car tomorrow. We will do some good simulations for the race and try to prepare as much as possible for qualifying too.”
Max Verstappen: “Today we focussed on the smaller details and took little steps. Again, the car responded well to everything we did. We learnt a lot for next weekend and of course for future races as well.
"I’m very pleased with the testing period, every time I jumped in the car I felt comfortable and could push instantly. A massive credit to everyone back at the factory, working throughout the whole of winter and even last year to prepare the car we have now.
"To see it on track and how it behaves on track is great. We’ll have to see how quick we will be next week but I’m feeling positive.”
Gianpiero Lambiase, Head of Race Engineering: “This morning’s session with Checo was productive with some solid mileage accumulation. Checo settled into the RB19 nicely with positive feedback. His focus was on stabilised running, signing off multiple critical procedural and systems checks.
"He has a strong platform from which to build upon tomorrow for a full day in the car. This afternoon we had a small teething issue, which whilst minor, cost us some track time. This is why we come testing, to avoid these problems when it counts.
"It will be a fairly packed program tomorrow to ensure we come away with all of the data we need, but from Max’s short outings today, we know we are honing in on a package ahead of the race. His 1.5 days have gone in a flash, but he is comfortable in the car and will be ready for battle.”
Alfa Romeo: It’s been a positive day overall
Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake topped the timesheets in the second day of pre-season action in Sakhir, Bahrain. Lap times in testing are of limited value, but the team can take great encouragement by the good mileage racked up by Zhou Guanyu, who completed 132 laps of the Bahrain International Circuit on his new Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake C43.
The final day of Pre-Season F1 Testing will take place tomorrow, with Valtteri Bottas taking over the reins of the C43.
Zhou Guanyu: “We are well aware this is testing, of course, and everyone is trying different settings, but it feels nice to see my name and that of the team up there in the timing sheets. It’s been a positive day overall, we got more mileage in and went through all the targets and tasks we had set for ourselves.
"I can say I am happy. The car felt reasonably good, both in daytime and night-time conditions, and I felt more confident pushing as the day progressed.
"Today was the final day of pre-season F1 testing for me, and I am very much looking forward to the start of the season next week. I feel ready and excited about the new campaign and I can’t wait to be racing again.”
Aston Martin: We are just focussing on ourselves
Fernando Alonso: “It was a good day for us with a lot of laps completed – just what you need in a new car. We had a busy programme and tried a lot of different things. After a long winter it is good to get strong mileage under your belt early on and there is no better training than driving a Formula One car.
"I now feel fitter and sharper ahead of next week, which will be my first race with Aston Martin and I am very excited about that. I have another half day tomorrow so we will use this to continue learning and collecting as much data as possible. I am looking forward to getting back in the car tomorrow afternoon.”
Mike Krack, Team Principal: “We are pleased with the progress we have made during our second day of pre-season F1 testing. Fernando completed 130 laps, allowing us to run through our full test plan and gather further valuable data.
"We are continuing to get to know Fernando’s driving style and what he wants from the car, but his feedback has been incredibly constructive and the changes we implemented overnight were received well. It is very difficult to make predictions on competitiveness based on a few days of testing because we have the full range of tyres available, different fuel levels and so many other variables to consider.
"We are just focussing on ourselves, preparing as much as we can, and getting through the job list. It will be next week after qualifying when we get a much clearer picture of how competitive we are. For our third and final testing day, we are pleased to have Felipe returning to the AMR23 during the morning session, with Fernando taking over in the afternoon.”
McLaren: We are happy we have achieved
Oscar Piastri: “It was a solid day for the team with everything running smoothly. Today’s session has increased my learning of the car and I feel like I am improving with every lap. It was good to focus on different areas throughout my drive, including the race simulation. We are going in a good direction which is pleasing to see on day two of testing and I’m looking forward to getting back out on track in the session tomorrow morning.”
Lando Norris: “It's been a productive day for everyone in the team. I did a lot of testing on a number of different setups as planned and we also put in a solid number of laps which is positive. I’m looking forward to heading into tomorrow’s running in the evening to finish off our run plan.”
Andrea Stella, Team Principal: “It was a positive day for the team. The car has been reliable, and we have recovered some of the mileage we were short of yesterday. Lando went through some basic tests in the morning which weren’t performance focused.
"We have also saved the soft tyres for day three where Lando will run in conditions that are more representative of a race weekend. Oscar’s runs today have been more focused on the race weekend preparation with a range of different setups.
"We are happy we have achieved all these objectives on day two and look forward to a positive final test day on track tomorrow.”
Mercedes: Unfortunately we had an hydraulic issue
A disrupted second day of pre-season F1 testing in Bahrain saw the Team's afternoon programme curtailed owing to an hydraulic failure. Prior to that, the Team completed close to a century of laps, gathering valuable data and adding learnings to yesterday's running.
Lewis logged 72 tours of the Bahrain International Circuit across the morning session. The hotter ambient and track temperatures made conditions tricky, with the Team focusing on understanding the overall car balance.
George took over the W14 for the afternoon starting with aero rake work. Attention switched to balance checks as dusk fell, prior to a planned programme of long runs; George using the C3 tyre to set his fastest lap of the day, a 1m33.654s.
With 26 laps under his belt, and 90 minutes left in the session, the aforementioned hydraulic failure ended the Team's day prematurely during George's first long run.
Lewis Hamilton: "It was a difficult morning. The hot temperatures made it challenging with the tyres overheating, as we often see here in Bahrain. We got through our run plan though and it was good to get that mileage in. Everyone is working incredibly hard, staying focused, and we're discovering everything we can about the W14. We've got lots of work planned for the final day of pre-season F1 testing tomorrow."
George Russell: "Unfortunately, we had an hydraulic issue this afternoon which cost us some running. Even though we didn't complete our full programme, we uncovered some interesting things in the data throughout the day. That is a positive and we will analyse these overnight with the aim of finding lap time. We haven't unlocked everything yet in the W14 and everyone is working hard to do so and maximise our final day of F1 testing tomorrow."
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director: "We've not had a strong second day; stopping on track with a reliability issue wasn't great and we have struggled to get the car balanced well across the changing conditions.
"We've got some investigations going on to understand why this has been such a challenge today when yesterday it was fairly straight forward. That work will continue into the night and no doubt we'll understand more come the morning. It will be interesting tomorrow to see if we can understand the drop in performance and mitigate the lost track time.
Williams: A lot of areas of opportunity with a new car
Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance: "Conditions were like yesterday apart from a brief period after the lunchbreak when the wind dropped significantly. This stability allowed us to continue the work from yesterday and to push the FW45 a little harder.
"Logan drove for the whole day, which gave him an excellent work out ahead of the grand prix. He was able to use a lot of new tyre sets and therefore had the opportunity to experiment with setup and tyre management. He did an excellent job, completed a lot of useful work and although his pre-season F1 testing has been very short in time, he has been able to complete a lot of valuable laps.
Alex returns to the car tomorrow and with slightly different conditions expected, we will get to see some different characteristics of FW45.
"We are looking forward to a third day of reliable running to allow us to complete our season preparation; naturally there are a lot of areas of opportunity with a new car and tomorrow is about identifying and unlocking as many of them as possible in time for next week’s grand prix.
Logan Sargeant: I think today tops the most kilometres I’ve ever done in a day. I was able to physically hold up well. We got through so much running which is a testament to the team and the hard work they’ve put in. We moved in the right direction the whole day and it was really positive.
We looked at shorter runs this morning and considering where the track temp was, I was relatively happy with how the car was feeling. Throughout the long runs this afternoon the car was in a good window and I could drive it exactly how I wanted to. There are still somethings we’re chasing but I’ll leave that up to Alex tomorrow. Overall, I’m really happy with where we’ve got the car and I can’t wait to go racing next week.
Latest News
Loading
