The final day of Formula 1 pre-season testing saw Charles Leclerc and Scuderia Ferrari finish at the top of the timesheets on Friday in Bahrain. We look closer at the post-test reactions from the teams and drivers as they gear up to embark on an unprecedented 24-race championship journey.
Formula One pre-season testing action concluded on Friday with Ferrari leading the timesheets at the hands of Charles Leclerc, who set a lap time of 1:30.322 on the C4 compound, four-hundredths of a second ahead of George Russell’s Mercedes to wrap up proceedings.
“The feeling is better than the base we started from last year. Now, it’s full focus on the race, and I can’t wait to be back on track next week,” said the Monegasque driver.
Zhou Guanyu took P3 for Sauber, recording a time of 1:30.647 toward the end of the session, while Max Verstappen finished P4 for Red Bull Racing, recording the fastest time on a medium tire on Day 3.
#F1TESTING: DAY 3 CLASSIFICATION
— Formula 1 (@F1) February 23, 2024
Leclerc on top ahead of our first race next *Saturday*#F1 pic.twitter.com/6ZMUFAnLAf
Over three days of intense running at the Bahrain International Circuit, the Scuderia first topped the charts on Thursday, setting the fastest time of Day 2 (1:29.921) with Carlos Sainz.
He would also headline the field on Friday morning before handing over the SF-24 to Leclerc, who took over in the afternoon.
On Thursday and Friday, the morning sessions were red-flagged due to track repairs, as a rain drainage cover at Turn 11 came unstuck cutting.
Throughout testing, running from Wednesday through Friday, the Spaniard was the fastest man of a 20-racer grid.
“Overall, it has been a good day, despite the red flag that disrupted the running a bit, but I enjoyed every single lap in the car today,” asserted Sainz.
“We tested a lot of different configurations to collect as much data as possible. The car seems to be in a decent place, and I am proud of the work the team has done to complete such a solid test program.”
The Prancing Horse from Maranello completed 423 laps, equivalent to 2,257 kilometers, an encouraging testing journey for a team eager to stop Red Bull’s dominant winning streak.
Meanwhile, Sergio Perez and the RB20 ended P2 on the second day, clocking a time of 1:30.679; Lewis Hamilton and the W15 finished third, recording a 1:31.066 lap time.
The inaugural day of testing saw Verstappen at work from sunrise to sunset in Sakhir, maximizing an entire program on board Adrian Newey, Red Bull Chief Technical Officer, latest creation, the revolutionary RB20.
The three-time Formula 1 world champion made highlights by setting a flying lap of 1:31.344 on the C3 compound, a second and a half quicker than his opening mark last season at testing.
“Overall, it was very good today,” concluded the Dutch driver on Friday.
“We focused on the long-running to get more of an understanding of the car. It was good to see the performance was very strong.”
“We made the plan to not focus on pure lap time and tried different compounds, so I am happy with the laps that we did today.”
“As we head into the race weekend, it is all about fine-tuning the car and seeing what the race throws at you when you push the car to the limit.”
“We’ve had a really positive test and learned a lot from everything we changed, so we look forward to next week.”
Reading into lap times at testing tends to mislead judgment when trying to decode the actual pace, what worked, and what is still missing.
Each day, the teams run their respective programs, collecting valuable data through the F1 sensors for the engineers to analyze, adding to the unique feedback only the drivers can provide on their new challenger’s behavior.
As time is limited, making the most of every second on and off track is essential to refining the car’s aerodynamics.
In that sense, teams assess several factors, such as reliability or setup combinations, everything influencing the car’s performance under different track conditions, engine mode, tires, fuel load, etc.
Nonetheless, Verstappen and Red Bull look once again like the rivals to beat; the speed is there, the balance, the consistency, all ingredients to a new winning formula which will face its first pivotal test at the Bahrain Grand Prix, less than a week away.
For its part, Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 completed 1,952 km of running across the three days, focussing, as the team expressed, on long-term learning rather than out-and-out performance with Hamilton and Russell behind the wheel of the W15.
2024 will mark the end of a successful partnership between Hamilton, a seven-time world champion, and Mercedes, as the former has decided to join Scuderia Ferrari in 2025.
The Briton is excited about the start of the season and shared his thoughts on the upcoming challenge, the last with the Brackley team.
“We know we’ve got work to do, and we are not yet where we want to be; we knew that would be the case coming into the test though,” he stated.
“We’ve got a great platform to build on. We will go away and work hard over the next couple of days to go through all the data from the test.”
ASTON MARTIN
The Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team completed 379 laps over testing between its drivers, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.
On Friday, Alonso shared his impressions on the new AMR24, outlining: “The AMR24 is a step forward from last year, and we just have to see how big of a step forward against everybody else. We will know more next week after Qualifying.”
“It was good to get a number of laps on the board over the three days, and I feel fit and ready to go for the start of the new season.”
McLaren F1
Team Principal Andrea Stella summarized testing as a positive journey for the papaya squad despite having its program disrupted by the red flags, which cut short track time. The Woking-based outfit also faced a fuel system problem.
“We can improve further, but it’s been a positive few days overall,” said Stella.
“Going into the Bahrain Grand Prix, we have to be prudent because some teams seem to have made a good step over the winter, and Bahrain is not the ideal track layout for our car. We will find out where we are in qualifying next Saturday.”
The 2024 FIA Formula One World Championship opening round, the Bahrain Grand Prix, will be held at the Bahrain International Circuit on Saturday, March 2.
