Minute by minute updates on the opening day of the 2024 F1 Bahrain pre-season test
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The 2024 F1 season is here with the start of pre-season testing in Bahrain.
All 10 teams have completed their launches but the opening day of testing marks the first time each 2024 car is truly unveiled to the world.
With Red Bull coming off a dominant 2023 season when it won all but one grand prix, can any of its rivals take the fight to the defending world champions?
The Bahrain pre-season test will run between 21-23 February, with each day’s track action starting at 7am GMT (10am local time).
Obviously, F1 testing is usually dominated by red flags. So far, there have been none. Albon came close to causing one this morning, but green flags all the way so far!
And Sainz has joined him. Russell continues across the line for a first hot lap of the session. He checks the track temp and is informed it is 1.5C lower than the morning.
Aston Martin's third driver, Felipe Drugovich, has suggested that the lack of running could be down to the track being too hot. Drivers were reportedly complaining in the morning session, so it sounds as though the wait for meaningful running could be set to continue!
On the driver line-up for 2025 - a topic accelerated by Hamilton's surprise Ferrari switch - Krack has said that Aston Martin are "really happy with both (drivers) and want to continue with both".
He adds that, "We would like to continue with Fernando. We have been clear on that from the beginning".
"It was good. We had a promotional event at Silverstone last week and here is a different track, different conditions. But he was happy with how it went."
Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack reveals the initial positive feedback from Alonso after completing 77 laps in the opening test session.
The rear-facing camera on the Ferrari shows a very, very wobbly rear wing on the SF-24. That could just be because the rake weighs a significant amount but it is quite an alarming amount of movement.
Hulkenberg was on a mission roaming the pit wall this morning. But Magnussen was slowest for Haas, a trend new team principal Komatsu believes could continue through the opening rounds.
In weather talk, the track temp is 37.3C, with air temps of 23.5C. Those will continue to fall throughout the session, but the wind speed has picked up to 3.2m/s. That could cause some moments of snap oversteer.
Less than two minutes remain before we get under way in the afternoon/evening session. It doesn't appear that anyone is overly keen to be the first to dash out of the garages.
Thank you James! Good afternoon and welcome to the next phase of your coverage of the opening F1 test for 2024. Are we all ready to jump to conclusions of who is hot and not this year?
Norris taking over the McLaren will also mean we get to see his Gil de Ferran tribute helmet in action. A touching gesture to the 2003 Indianapolis 500 winner and McLaren advisor who passed away suddenly in December.
Both Verstappen and Russell will go the distance today before Perez and Hamilton take over tomorrow in their respective mounts. Time for their pre-season physical preparation to shine.
Of that group, only Perez will not drive today. Sauber, Ferrari, RB and Haas will all swap drivers during the break, which isn't quite the easy job you might think for the mechanics. It involves different seats and pedal configurations for the different drivers, for a start.
The afternoon session in Sakhir will begin at 12:00 GMT. In the meantime, Zhou, Sainz, Perez, Ricciardo and Hulkenberg are currently facing the media, so we'll bring you any developments as they come in.
The turmoil for Williams, which didn't bring out a red flag, was the only major reliability concern for the teams. Given the limited running, any setbacks can prove pretty costly, so Williams will hope it's a relatively minor problem that can be resolved in time for the afternoon session.
