Formula 1 is back in Bahrain this week for the last of the pre-season testing. With all five tyre compounds available, these three days open more opportunities for the teams and drivers.
It should be noted that Max Verstappen did not join the Red Bull team for the first day of testing, meaning Isack Hadjar participated in both the AM and PM sessions.
Morning Session
The morning’s hot conditions caused grip trouble for some drivers; notably, Sergio Perez and Lando Norris had multiple lock-ups throughout the session.
Cadillac was slow to start, reportedly having issues with their sensors. Perez was able to complete 24 laps during the session after the issue was resolved.
Hadjar seemed to be having trouble with his car once again this week; after just 13 laps, he was out of the cockpit and chatting to his engineers. The Red Bull team was not able to get him back out on track before the chequered flag and later confirmed a water leak/cooling issue.
Race Control also tried their hand in testing, throwing a VSC, red and yellow flags. All teams knew of this in advance and planned their runs accordingly.
Ferrari and Charles Leclerc had a very strong session with no obvious reliability issues and 70 laps completed. He set a time of 1:33.739, just shy of last week’s fastest time of 1:33.669.
Afternoon Session
Cars were slow to start in the PM session, with Oliver Bearman emerging first. The heat was at an all-time high, causing similar grip issues to the AM session.
Lewis Hamilton ran a new rear wing set-up positioned just behind the exhaust, aimed at adding more downforce and improving stability, but he was soon dealing with lock-up issues as well.
During Lance Stroll’s seventh lap, he lost the rear and ended up in the gravel, causing a red flag. The car was not far off the track, though it did leave him beached. He was later able to get back on track and completed 26 laps in total.
As the session continued, the temperature began to drop, allowing drivers to find more grip. This was particularly helpful to Oscar Piastri, who briefly held the fastest lap with a time of 1:33.469 min.
In the last 10 minutes of the session, Race Control once again conducted a few tests. This included a red flag and multiple formation laps. The session ended with a new starting procedure. Before the five red lights, the grid panels flash blue for five seconds, allowing drivers more time to prepare.
The Day at a Glance
By the end of the PM session, George Russell emerged as the fastest with a time of 1:33.459, beating out the best time of last week.
While Russell’s lap put him at the top of the timesheets, the cooler evening conditions clearly helped drivers find more grip. As always in testing, fuel loads and engine modes are unknown, so the true order is still hard to judge.
Mercedes and Ferrari will be pleased with their relatively smooth running, while Red Bull’s day was affected more by reliability issues than outright pace. The hotter morning conditions exposed braking and balance problems across the grid, giving teams plenty of data to work through overnight.
With two days still to run and all five tyre compounds available, there is still time for the order to change — and for another benchmark lap to be set before testing comes to a close.