Max Verstappen was fastest on the final day of pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit. The Red Bull driver set his fastest time in the closing moments of the test a 31.720 putting him almost seven-tenths faster than Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. The world champion set his fastest time on the C5 tyre putting him ahead of the Monacan who set his fastest time on the C4.
Red Bull had unveiled a raft of updates to the car which backed up the theory that they were holding back until the end of testing to show the car’s full potential. It seemed to transform the car aerodynamically, with Verstappen trading times with Leclerc in the final hour.
Verstappen however did spin the car on his first attempt probably caused by a lack of heat in the tyres. Although the gap will close in qualifying next Saturday, as it is believed Mercedes have a little bit more to show, but there is unease that they may be too far off.
Lewis Hamilton told reporters, Mercedes are genuinely struggling to extract performance under the hugely altered design regulations for 2022. Saying “It is too early to have those kind of thoughts about the world championship, but at the moment I don’t think we will be competing for wins.”
Fernando Alonso put his Alpine third, the two-time champion setting his fastest lap during the evening session going seven hundredths faster than the Mercedes of George Russell. But Alonso was a second slower than his Verstappen, while Russell on the same compound as Leclerc was just over a tenth off.
Russell put the Mercedes two tenths faster than Valtteri Bottas, the man he replaces alongside Hamilton this year. But that could be encouraging for Alfa Romeo, as they look to join the midfield battle this season, Bottas nearly two-hundredths faster than Yuki Tsunoda.
The Finn set his fastest times at the end of the day, in the closing hour working his way to a 32.985, before bringing out the red flag as a transmission issue stop the car at the hairpin.
Sergio Perez had topped the times at lunch, setting a 33.105 but in the final classification going five-hundredths faster than the Haas of Mick Schumacher. The German had a similar incident to Verstappen, when he lit up the rears through the last corner.
McLaren’s difficult test continued with an afflicted by front-brake problems, a fix for which team boss Andreas Seidl said would require new parts that will only arrive in time for the race weekend. Lando Norris finishing the day ninth fastest, as teammate Daniel Ricciardo self-isolates after testing positive for coronavirus.
Sebastian Vettel put his Aston Martin tenth fastest, going over a tenth faster than Guanyu Zhou, with Pierre Gasly going four-hundredth faster than Carlos Sainz. Alex Albon had limited running to make up for lost time on Friday, the British-Thai driver going fourteenth almost half a second faster than teammate Nicolas Latifi.
Lance Stroll was sixteenth fastest the Aston Martin driver going a tenth and a half quicker than Hamilton with Kevin Magnussen rounding out the times.
Teams now have three hours next Friday and Saturday afternoon before qualifying for the opening race next Saturday evening in Bahrain, for the second event of the triple-header, when the true order at the start of the year becomes clear.
