Those who expected the first rings were satisfied. In the morning session of the last day of 2022 Formula 1 pre-season tests held at the Sakhir track, in Bahrain, Sergio Perez signed the best time obtained so far in this three days of testing.
The Red Bull driver, thanks to an RB18 equipped with new bellies and Pirelli C4 compound tires (red band on the shoulders), achieved a 1’33 “105 which is by far the best time seen so far. For the Mexican little work on long runs, but a lot on the evaluation of the set-up on the dry lap, with more empty tanks, in addition to the aerodynamic evaluations necessary after introducing the new bellies just this morning.
In addition to Perez, the other driver of the day capable of breaking down the 1’34 “was – not surprisingly – Guanyu Zhou. The Chinese took the Alfa Romeo C42 to second place using C4 compounds and ringing 79 laps, almost double those made by Sergio Perez (41).
Zhou, after several fast lap simulations, then did a test on long runs with hard compounds. One stint lasted nearly 30 laps, although times were not that promising. Third place instead for Pierre Gasly with the AlphaTauri. The AT03 was almost 1 “slower with the same tires compared to the Alfa Romeo, but the fuel tank of the Faenza car was certainly not as empty as that of the Swiss single-seater.
The pace shown by the AT03 is much more interesting, with Gasly completing the race simulation just before the only red flag – test – displayed 14 minutes from the end of the session. For the Frenchman 89 laps: this is the fact that makes him the most active driver on the track of the morning.
A lot of work with C3 compounds (which at the Bahrain GP will be considered the Soft) for Ferrari with Carlos Sainz. The Madrilenian focused in particular on long runs all made with the compound recognizable by the yellow band on the shoulders. 3 stints with different fuel loads, but also with the impression that the F1-75 is quite constant. The fifth final time obtained with C5 compounds says little, because it is a type of tire that, at Sakhir, has shown to give the desired performance for just one sector. The temperatures are too high for such a soft compound.
Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari F1-75
Photo by: Motorsport Images
Fernando Alonso tried to get a good number of laps with the Alpine after the problems that slowed down the development program of the A522. Fernando did some race simulation stints, signing the fifth time in the morning using C4 compound tires. Lando Norris was able to run in the morning thanks to the new components arrived from Woking after the problems with the braking system occurred in the past few days.
The Briton has only done 39 laps, but he will also have the afternoon session available due to Daniel Ricciardo’s positivity to COVID-19. Nicholas Latifi with the Williams FW44 simulated a grand prix almost entirely. 73 total laps and the seventh time centered with C3 compounds ahead of Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin.
On the other hand, what Lewis Hamilton did is very interesting. The British Mercedes driver did not carry out any single lap simulation, so much so that he was in ninth place in the standings, but he managed to complete the race simulation entirely. 3 stints in which he used compounds C3, C2 and C1, the ones that the teams will have available next week for the grand prix.
The thing that most impressed is the consistency of the times and, not least, the fact that the W13 has never appeared among the best top speeds (never in the Top 5 in any of the three sectors of the track). This indicates that the W13 still has leeway and has not yet fully demonstrated what it can do.
Unlucky day for Haas. Starting an hour earlier to make up for the time lost on the first day, Kevin Magnussen was unable to do more than 38 laps, which was all done in the early part of the morning. The American team’s program was curbed by a failure in the power supply of the Ferrari power unit.
Pos | Pilot | Team | Time | Gap | Turns |
1 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 1: 33.105 | 41 | |
2 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | 1: 33.959 | + 0.854s | 80 |
3 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 1: 34.865 | + 1.760s | 89 |
4 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1: 34.905 | + 1,800s | 68 |
5 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | 1: 35.328 | + 2.223s | 54 |
6 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1: 35.504 | + 2.399s | 39 |
7 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 1: 35.634 | + 2.529s | 73 |
8 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1: 36.029 | + 2.924s | 51 |
9 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1: 36.217 | + 3.112s | 78 |
10 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1: 38.616 | + 5.511s | 38 |
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