In Pictures: Pre-Season Testing - Bahrain
The 2024 Formula 1 Season started with three days of testing (*) at the Bahrain International Circuit the week previous to the opening round at the same venue.
Since there are many changes and evolutions to the 2024 race cars, all ten teams tried to do as many laps as possible to get as much data as they could gather to better understand their respective cars, and somehow, take a look at where everyone stands going into racing.
(*) In the past, this process was spread over more than 10 days of preseason testing in Spain, but to cut costs, the number of test days has now been reduced to just three and they take place the week before the first race.
DAY 1
At the end of day 1, 18 of the 20 drivers have done laps on track, just Sergio Perez (Red Bull) and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) left to try them out.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen did the fastest lap of the day, 1:31.344, more than one second ahead of the rest of the pack. He also did the most laps of the day, 143, followed by George Russell with 122, albeit they were the only drivers doing the full day of testing. As for teams, Haas did the most laps, 148 between Kevin Magnussen (66) and Nico Hulkenberg (82).
““The winter break was fairly short this year but, nonetheless, the amount of work which has gone into the car has been impressive as usual. We came to Bahrain with a few unknowns around a relatively new car, but we have tested most of the fundamentals on day one and got the answers we needed to. Now we have a solid base to take onto days two and three, when Checo takes over the car in the morning.””
DAY 2
It was Sergio Perez’s turn at Red Bull, and Lewis Hamilton’s at Mercedes, the rest of the teams running both drivers during the day, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon.
In the middle of the session there was an issue with a loose drain-cover, Red Flagging the rest of the morning while it was repaired. It was confirmed Ferrari had to change the floor on the SF24 after being damaged when going over the aforementioned drain-cover.
At 2:00PM local time the afternoon session started with Charles Leclerc coming out immediately, trying to recover some of the lost time during the morning's red flag period as he had only half-hour of running before handing the SF24 to Carlos Sainz.
At the end of the day, it was Carlos Sainz who finished fastest with a 1:29.921. He was followed by Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton.
DAY 3
Final day of Pre-Season testing had everyone on the edge as there will be no more opportunity to fully understand the cars before the next race the weekend after.
But less than an hour’s running, there was a red flag, and as the day before, it was because a loose drain cover on the entry to Turn 11. This time, it was the Red Bull that went over it. Adrian Newey, literally, threw himself under the car to inspect any possible damage the RB20’s floor might have sustained. No damage was reported.
Immediately as the track was opened, all ten drivers went out, trying to recover some of the lost time. Race Control announced that running would be permitted uninterruptedly until 7:00 PM local time.
At the end of the test, it was Ferrari with Charles Leclerc to go to the top of the classification. The Monegasque stopped the clocks in 1:30.322 on a set of new C4s. Although the other Ferrari driver was quickest overall at this test, with Carlos Sainz heading the field with the 1:29.921 he set on Day 2.
However, in the closing stages of Day 3, George Russell in the Mercedes got pretty close to Leclerc’s time, claiming second place just 46 thousandths slower. The Englishman was running the same tire compound and made the most of the faster track as the surface temperature dropped. A last minute surprise came in the form of Zhou Guanyu who was third quickest in the Stake F1 in 1:30.647 on the C4. Three-time world champion Max Verstappen was fourth (1:30.755, C3) with Yuki Tsunoda (Racing Bulls) fifth in 1:30.775 (C4).
While some kind of order usually emerges from testing, it's not always representative of the first race. This year the sole preseason test and the first race are being held at the same venue, Bahrain, improving the chances of an accurate prediction. But even so, a lot can change in a week.
““We’ve wrapped up our third day of testing, having put in a solid number of laps and completed a lot of different tests, which is positive. The car is reacting the way that we wanted it to, but it is still difficult to assess its level of competitiveness right now. 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.””
WHY ONLY ONE CAR?
F1's regulations dictate that each team can have only one car on track at any time during those three days, the two drivers will have to share that single car, reducing their track time to less than 12 hours each (minus time in the garage fixing issues and changing setups).
OPINION:
Formula 1 has transitioned from unsupervised testing to two-week testing periods, and now to just three days of testing, all in an effort to introduce uncertainty at the start of the racing season, perhaps in hopes of reshuffling the established order.
While conducting testing the week before the first race at the same venue helps with logistics and associated costs, it hinders the development and understanding of the cars. Furthermore, factoring in the time taken out for circuit repairs, it penalizes the drivers the most, as they lose valuable on-track time.
Formula 1 needs to address the loose drain cover issues observed at various venues, as this creates a new and unknown safety concern for the drivers, teams, fans, and all involved parties.
