Charles Leclerc was fastest on the final day of testing at the Bahrain International Circuit with a 30.322 on C4 tyre, which put the Ferrari nearly half a tenth faster than the Mercedes of George Russell. Leclerc drove the afternoon session after another morning which was red flagged once again because of lose drain cover.
On his first run he managed a 31.050 on the harder medium tyre, which will be the medium tyre for the Grand Prix next weekend, but switching to the tyre put him at the time comfortably ahead of Max Verstappen. Guanyu Zhou was third for Sauber four tenths off Leclerc.
Zhou and Russell’s fastest times came in ‘qualifying/power hour’ for next weekend, as he switched focus from long to short runs. Initially moving into fifth place on the C3 compound, Russell then took second on the C4 late on.
Red Bull remains the favourite Verstappen was fourth four-tenths off the pace, but he didn’t do a run on a new C3 tyre which will be the soft for next weekend. But the RB20 looks to be the car to beat, while Ferrari looks to be closer with both drivers sounding more confident about their car than this time last year. Verstappen was four-tenths slower than Leclerc’s on the quicker compound.
Rivals estimate Red Bull could be as far as half a second per lap quicker than the rest (a comfortable advantage in modern F1), although that may well change circuit to circuit as the season goes on. In truth, the competitive order is never known until the first qualifying, next Friday, for the first race.
Another consensus which has formed this week in the paddock is that chasing gaggle of teams might be even closer together than in 2023, which may create another frustrating season of imagining the all-time classic championship which could be taking place if Verstappen and Red Bull were magically erased from the competitive order.
Ferrari enjoyed a strong test too, with their drivers feeling more confident about their car and its handling than this time last year. Mercedes’ drivers have also spoken about their car being “nicer to drive” than its two evil-handling predecessors, while McLaren feels they remain right in the chasing pack.
Yuki Tsunoda put his RB fifth another ‘qualifying hour’ improver on the harder medium, vaulting up the times going two tenths behind the sister car of Verstappen using the same compound. That put him ahead of Alex Albon by two-tenths the only driver to drive for the full day.
But the whole test has highlighted that all the teams have good reliability on track, the only red flag caused by a lose drain cove. The final morning was not even half an hour old when the cover was brought up by Sergio Perez’s Red Bull, which escaped damage, with the subsequent red flag lasting 75 minutes while marshals worked to weld down the drain and inspect the rest of the track.
Oscar Piastri put his McLaren seventh a tenth faster than Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin hasn’t been lighting up the headlines like they did last season but the whole field has looked tighter in testing.
Sainz was the fastest of those drivers who drove the mid-morning session, ninth in the final standings and around a quarter of a second faster than Sergio Perez. Haas has gone into the season down-playing expectations, but Nico Hulkenberg was third at lunch but two-tenths behind Perez in eleventh.
Lewis Hamilton was twelfth three tenths off the Haas after forty-nine laps, going into his final season with Mercedes. But the seven-time champion was seven hundredths faster than his fellow morning runners Lance Stroll and Lando Norris. Norris having his running limited to twenty laps because of a clutch issue.
Alpine has been downplaying expectations since their launch just over a fortnight ago, Pierre Gasly fifteenth, but nearly a second faster than the Haas of Kevin Magnussen. But the French manufacturer rarely has a particularly stand-out test performance as it prioritises longer runs with heavy fuel over outright quick times.
Williams is another difficult team to judge at this stage, while Sauber and Haas look set to be at the rear end of the field to start the year. Teams and drivers will have three more hours of practice before things
The second leg of a triple header sees F1 remain in Bahrain for the opening race between 29 February – 02 March before heading to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. The first two races have shifted to Saturday in order to accommodate the beginning of Ramadan. With a slightly longer break between Melbourne and Suzuka to accommodate Easter.
