Defending world champion Max Verstappen will start the Bahrain GP as the favourite. Photo / Don Kennedy
Three days of testing in Bahrain have given the teams and drivers a better indication as to where they stand in relation to one another, but the testing itself is not definitive as to which team is on top.
The favourite going into this weekend’s season opener in Bahrain is defending double world champion Max Verstappen. His Red Bull car topped the timesheets on day one and his teammate Sergio Perez was quickest on day three. There is almost universal agreement from those in the know that Red Bull have successfully evolved and improved the car that provided Verstappen with his second title, and the team with its first Constructors’ championship since 2013 last year.
The time Perez set on the third day was the quickest time overall, but such was the team’s satisfaction with the testing, Verstappen didn’t even drive on day three - a clear indication the team is confident it has given their number-one driver a car good enough to succeed again.
Team boss Christian Horner believes Ferrari will again be its closest challenger, but is not sure whether Mercedes will make it a three-way fight at the top.
“Very difficult to say,” Horner stated. “I mean, Ferrari looks like they’re quick; Mercedes’ form [is] difficult to read at the moment. Are they holding back? We’ll see this time next week. I think all will become clear.”
The team that appears to be next closest to the top three is Aston Martin, who could only finish seventh in last year’s championship. The team will soon be able to boast of a new factory in Gaydon, near the Silverstone circuit. But they had a disrupted start to the three days of testing, as Lance Stroll injured his wrist in a bike training accident and was replaced by reserve driver Felipe Drugovich. It now seems likely Drugovich will substitute for Stroll in the first race as well.
Alonso was second-quickest on day one, third on day two but only tenth on day three, when he did a race simulation. However, it seems even Horner has taken notice of the progress Aston Martin has made.
“Yeah, I think they’ve made a big step,” Horner conceded. “It looks like their concept of car has moved them forward and they look like they’re not too far away, so Fernando in particular looks very competitive.”
Sky Sports pit reporter Ted Kravitz goes further.
“I’ve got Aston Martin third and potentially even a little closer to Ferrari,” Kravitz said.
“That’s to do with Fernando Alonso’s race run. In Saturday’s Bahrain GP [long runs], such as it was, it would have been Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso on the podium ahead of the Ferraris and the Mercedes.”
But Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack has downplayed his team’s expectations.
“To be honest, I think it’s very, very difficult on such a test to make a proper judgement,” he said.
“Last year, we were P4, P4 and P10 over the three days, and we seem similar now. Our goal was to make a step forward in the performance of the car, in the team, and this still remains our objective. If we manage it or not - we will see next week.”
For Verstappen, his response to Red Bull’s successful testing when asked what the car might be capable of when racing starts this Sunday was positive and to the point.
“Our goal is to win and then win the championship,” he said.
His long-time race engineer GianPiero Lambiase said after the first day of testing, the team had “hit the ground running.”
“It’s been very good,” Verstappen admitted. “I think the car is working really well. Yeah, just going through all the things that we wanted to try and everything. Its very interesting, what we have been trying, so very positive days for me and just in general, just enjoying driving the car.”
“I think it’s definitely an improvement to last year. It’s not only about confidence, it’s just about actually just putting the performance down,” he said, a comment his rivals probably didn’t want to hear.
Charles Leclerc is expected to provide the main opposition to Verstappen, as he tried to do last year, even if his three race victories paled by comparison to the 15 Verstappen chalked up.
“I think our car changed a little bit [in its] characteristics this year - I expect us to be a bit quicker in the straights, maybe struggling a bit more in the corners,” Leclerc explained.
And with this three-day test, I can say that we are still working quite a bit on trying to find the sweet spot on the car in terms of set-up. So, there’s some margin on that still, that we haven’t found the sweet spot yet.”
Given Mercedes won eight consecutive Constructors’ championships prior to Red Bull taking that title away from them last year, and with Lewis Hamilton seeking that eighth drivers’ title, media interest in how Mercedes might perform is intense.
Former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan, now an F1 pundit, believes Hamilton will be back to his best this year.
“Seven-time world champion; I do believe he thinks he has the best chance this coming season to make this championship eight,” Jordan suggests.
“The reason I say that and the reason why I think he can beat George Russell is because this time last year, Lewis was devastated. What happened in Abu Dhabi in 2021, the last race of the season - had it happened in mid-season, it would be something you could probably get your mind through, but the way it happened, it was the last race and for the eighth championship, [which] seriously affected Lewis’s mindset and his mind wasn’t as clear as it should have been going into the start of the season.”
“I would discount the first 20 or 30 per cent of last season in terms of not seeing Lewis at his best, and he’ll be back to his best now. I think as an indicator, George Russell beating him in terms of total points for the championship in 2022 will be a blow to him.”
Jordan could be right, but last year Mercedes misinterpreted the new regulations and produced a car that suffered bouncing more than most. Plus, Russell is a very accomplished and talented driver, and 13 years younger than Hamilton, so it shouldn’t have been a huge surprise that he outscored him.
Hamilton’s improved mindset may be a positive factor this season, but the real question is whether Mercedes has produced a championship-winning car. By all accounts, the bouncing has been cured, but Russell’s car was sidelined on day two with a hydraulics issue, so it wasn’t plain sailing. Hamilton was second-quickest to Perez on day three, so that will be encouraging. You could say Hamilton is quietly confident, but not entirely satisfied, judging by his post-test comments.
“It has been an interesting few days here in Bahrain,” Hamilton said. “There has been a lot of discovery and the whole team has approached it with the same mentality, working hard, not being complacent and staying focused. We’re not quite where we want to be, but it’s a good platform to start from.”
“We don’t know where we will be next week, but we will stay positive and continue to push to the maximum.”
Russell’s comments echoed what Hamilton said.
“I believe we have improved the car over the course of testing and got the W14 in a much better window today. There is still plenty of work to do, but we’re in better shape for next week, with more to come.”
So, positive signs for Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes and Aston Martin, but what about the rest? Valtteri Bottas says the Alfa Romeo is “way, way better” than last year.
“We had some issues, but it’s part of testing, and way less than last year.”
Bottas’ teammate Zhou Guanyu topped the timesheets on day two.
Haas was satisfied with their test, with Kevin Magnussen noting they got in a lot of laps and that he was in the car from “the beginning to the end - I only came out to go to the toilet!”
F1 returnee Nico Hulkenburg was also quite happy, saying: “I feel comfortable that the car does what I say and not the other way around.”
Over at Alpha Tauri, Yuki Tsnoda said they “found some limitations, but looking deeper into it, I am certain the team and I will be able to improve in these areas to make the performance stronger”.
His new teammate Nyck de Vries, whose only Grand Prix start came as a substitute for Alex Albon in the Williams at Monza last year, was pleased with how everything went, and noted the “midfield is very tight and competitive”.
That midfield includes Williams, who had a good three days in terms of mileage, and Alpine, who hoped to at least retain their fourth placing in last year’s championship. The team they beat into the fourth spot was McLaren, and sadly the test did not go well for Lando Norris, who has re-signed until 2025, and rookie Oscar Piastri, who turned down a drive with Alpine to join McLaren.
There were issues with the car, but CEO Zak Brown has downplayed them.
“There’s nothing alarming, just usual testing bugs, if you like,” he assured the media.
“And so today Lando was focusing on longer runs, so we’re still understanding the car and [there’s] a lot more testing ahead of us, relatively speaking, and then we’ll get to work on race set-up.”
It will only be after qualifying on the Saturday, and then in Sunday’s race at Bahrain, that the talking will stop, replaced by action. Those who have created some hype will have to live up to it, while those who have downplayed issues will have to fix them. F1 is back, and on Sky Sport. We can’t wait.
Sources: F1.com, Sky Sports F1.