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Formula 1 Bahrain March Testing

F1 Bahrain pre-season test - Day 1

Minute by minute updates on the opening day of the 2022 Bahrain F1 pre-season test

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB18

All 10 teams are set to be in action for the first day of the Bahrain pre-season test, fresh off the back of the Barcelona shakedown test two weeks ago which saw the debut of the new era of F1 with the new cars devised under the new technical regulations.

Track action gets underway at 7am GMT and finishes at 4pm GMT. The day will be split by a one-hour lunch break (11am-12pm GMT) which can be reduced if requested due to lost track time from either red flags or poor weather conditions.

The opening day will provide a first look at what changes each team has made to the cars following the Barcelona pre-season shakedown test, as teams search for ways to solve the porpoising phenomenon which cropped up in the shakedown test.

Haas is set to miss the morning session after a late arrival of freight due to transport delays, with reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi prepared to drive the VF-22 this afternoon for the US team.

On the eve of the Bahrain test, Haas announced Kevin Magnussen would make a return to F1 to replace Nikita Mazepin following the termination of his contract, while the team also cut ties to title sponsor Uralkali due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Bahrain pre-season test will take place on 10-12 March ahead of the 2022 F1 season opener at the same venue, the Bahrain Grand Prix, on 18-20 March.

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Here's a shot of the returning Kevin Magnussen speaking to the media from our Grand Prix Editor Alex Kalinauckas. I can't imagine anyone in Bahrain right now is as excited as KMag is!

 

Stroll, meanwhile, has a big lockup on his C2 tyre at Turn 10. If we had a pound for every time we saw an F1 car locked up at that corner, we'd be able to buy the Bahrain circuit!
Also out on track right now is Bottas in the Alfa Romeo, as we see a replay of his replacement Russell making a bit of a mess of the last corner and running out wide.
"Please keep an eye on clutch panel. It seems awfully close to my knees"," Russell says, as his engineer counters that it looks okay on the pitwall.
While the cameras are fixed on a bouncing Russell, the likes of Sainz in the Ferrari, AlphaTauri's Gasly, Stroll in the Aston Martin and Williams driver Albon are out on track.
Russell has just complained of a lot of "bottoming - but not severe bumps". It looks like a rough ride out there for him.
Judging by the time deficit to the best lap of the day thus far, which is still Leclerc's session one time, Russell is doing some high fuel running.
George Russell goes onto a hot lap on the C3 tyre in his Mercedes... which has entirely too many wheels as far as I'm concerned.
Afternoon everyone, big hand to Newbold and Megan for taking you through the middle part of the day. JBL is back for a second stint, but firstly, Lewis Duncan will refrain from talking about two-wheeled things for a bit to kick off the final three hours.
Another quick lap from Sainz there, beating his previous time by 0.8s to go up to P10
Sainz sets a 1m40.488s on the soft tyre, putting him in P12 for the day
Carlos Sainz is finally getting out on track for his first run of the day
The track is now clear, so hopefully we'll see some more action soon
Red flag so a remaining piece of aero rake can be removed from the track
Something has fallen off Lance Stroll's Aston Martin - looks like the aero rakes have become dislodged and are rubbing against the tyres
The track is looking a bit busier now, with Albon, Perez, Alonso, Fittipaldi, Bottas and Stroll all putting in laps
Alex Albon has also joined the on-track action, with Bottas heading out for a second run
Alonso sets a 1m41.506s, also on the C2 hard compound
Fernando Alonso is heading out now too, taking over the reins of the Alpine A522 from Esteban Ocon
Sergio Perez has now headed out on track for Red Bull after putting in 70 laps this morning
Bottas sets his first lap of the day with a 1m44.190s on the C2 tyre
Good news from Ferrari - the floor is back on, so Carlos Sainz should be taking to the track shortly
15 minutes into the afternoon session and just a lonely Lando out on track at the moment
Lots of work going on down at Ferrari with the screens up in front of the garage while they remove the floor from the F1-75
Pietro Fittipaldi heads straight back into the garage after just one lap, while Lando Norris starts a quick lap
Haas are first out on track! Freight delays meant they were unable to take part in this morning's session so this is their first running of the test
Just five minutes to go until the green flag - will Ferrari top the times again this afternoon? Or could Mercedes go quickest with their radical new sidepod design?
10 minutes to go until the afternoon session kicks off in Bahrain!
With 20 minutes to go until the afternoon session, here's who'll be on track for the second half of today's running:

F1 Bahrain pre-season test day 1 afternoon line-ups

Mercedes: Russell 
Red Bull: Perez
Ferrari: Sainz 
McLaren: Norris
Alpine: Alonso
AlphaTauri: Gasly
Aston Martin: Stroll 
Williams: Albon
Alfa Romeo: Bottas
Haas: Fittipaldi
While the only track action at the moment is coming from the safety car, I'll hand you over to Megan White who will keep things ticking over for the next hour-and-a-bit.
Paddock talk today has been dominated by the Mercedes sidepod solution. But Jonathan Noble says teams should write off Red Bull at their peril - particularly given Adrian Newey's past experience with ground effect, making him unique among current F1 tech figures. Here's this week's column for Plus subscribers: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/the-university-project-that-neweys-rivals-should-not-forget/8846726/

By: Haydn Cobb

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