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Formula 1 Bahrain February Testing

F1 Bahrain pre-season test - Day 3

Minute by minute updates on the final day of the 2023 F1 Bahrain pre-season test

Kevin Magnussen, Haas VF-23, Logan Sargeant, Williams FW45, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL60, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-23, Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo C43, Esteban Ocon, Alpine A523, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W14 line-up on the grid to practice a start

After Max Verstappen topped the opening day and Zhou Guanyu went fastest yesterday, on-track action resumes from 07:00 GMT (10:00 local time).

All three days follow the same schedule, with running taking place from 10:00 until 14:15, and from 15:15 until 19:30 (all local time), pausing for a lunch break.

All 10 teams are set to be in action for the Bahrain pre-season test, the only opportunity teams will have to properly put their cars through their paces before the 2023 season proper gets under way next weekend.

More: F1 Bahrain test driver line-up

The Bahrain pre-season test will take place on 23-25 February ahead of the 2023 F1 season opener at the same venue, the Bahrain Grand Prix, on 3-5 March.

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Carlos Sainz is next out for a few more laps. Ferrari have been looking strong so far during testing, but how will they fare next weekend?
While we're waiting for a bit more action, here's what Lewis Hamilton has to say about Formula 1's quest to ban tyre blankets: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/hamilton-f1-tyre-blanket-ban-dangerous-and-pointless/10436395/
Esteban Ocon is the only driver out on track at the moment for Alpine
Lights green
Green light at the end of the pitlane and the last session of testing is underway!
In case you need it, here's a recap from this morning's running: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/2023-f1-bahrain-test-saturday-am/10436360/
Here's who is in action for each team this afternoon:


Red Bull: Perez
Ferrari: Sainz
Mercedes: Hamilton
Alpine: Ocon
McLaren: Norris
Alfa Romeo: Bottas
Aston Martin: Alonso
Haas: Magnussen
AlphaTauri: Tsunoda
Williams: Albon

Running in Bahrain will resume at 12.15 GMT / 15.15 local time
Thanks Stephen, it's almost time for the final session of testing to begin!
It's now about half an hour until track action resumes in Bahrain, so it's over to Megan White to guide you through the rest of the lunchbreak and the start of the afternoon session.
Breaking news
And here's some more lunchtime reading for you. Aston Martin has seemingly been one of the stars of F1 testing so far and it has certainly caught the attention of its rival squads: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/rivals-single-out-aston-martin-as-f1-midfield-team-to-watch/10436285/
Breaking news
Away from F1, we earlier mentioned about the withdrawal of Mahindra and Abt from today's Cape Town E-Prix. Here's a round-up from a chaotic qualifying session: https://www.autosport.com/formula-e/news/cape-town-e-prix-fenestraz-grabs-maiden-pole-in-wild-formula-e-qualifying/10436324/
So, there we go, Giorgio Pantano and Christijan Albers getting mentions on consecutive days. What more could you want?

Give up? It was the final three races of the 2006 season when Robert Doornbos replaced Christian Klien in the second Red Bull to join Spyker's Christijan Albers. Think it's fair to say this year's Dutch duo stand a better chance of achieving some success.

 

Back to today, and we mentioned de Vries quite a bit this morning as, despite being the slowest, the AlphaTauri driver concentrated on racking up as many laps as possible. 

Now, here is a quiz question for you. With de Vries now entering F1 full-time and joining his countryman Verstappen on the grid, aside from de Vries' one-off drive last year, when was the last time two Dutchmen contested a grand prix?

Continuing the Alfa theme, now we're in the lunchbreak, why not take a few minutes to recap on the key stories to emerge from yesterday? Here, Martyn Lee is joined by Matt Kew to discuss the main topics from day two:

 

Speaking of Alfa, remember it was the Swiss-based team that topped yesterday's times courtesy of Zhou. But Leclerc's best effort today was half a second quicker - and there could be plenty more improvements to come.

Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo C43

Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo C43

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

Bottas and Alfa Romeo still managed 72 laps despite that possible gearbox problem ruling them out of the final hour of running. It will now be a busy lunchbreak for those Alfa mechanics as they work to get the Finn back out for the more optimal conditions of this afternoon.
So, that was a very productive morning for de Vries and AlphaTauri as he completed a very impressive 87 laps, just ahead of Russell on 83. But languishing at the bottom of the laps completed pile is McLaren, with Piastri managing just 44 in contrast.
Breaking news
Here's our report on this morning's running as Ferrari and Mercedes led the way in times: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/2023-f1-bahrain-test-saturday-am/10436360/
Checkered flag
And that's it, another F1 test session is over and there's now just one more afternoon to go before we head into next week's race.
Red flag
And we now have a red flag again as this system check procedure continues. Gripping stuff.
There's not many starters for this race as Piastri completes a practice launch on the grid all on his own before Russell then has his turn.
Plenty of beans from Russell as he leaves the pitbox as he leaves a healthy amount of rubber on the asphalt.
Remember, as well as the team's struggles with the front wheelbrows, the MCL60 isn't looking great on track either. Earlier we had the rare sight during this test of a spin as Oscar did a foxtrot at Turn 10.
Given its lack of running, it's perhaps no surprise to see Piastri's McLaren waiting patiently at the end of the pitlane for the light to go green.
All the cars have now headed back to the pits ahead of some expected practice starts.
Red flag
And now we have the red flag test.
Just before the system checks began, we had some wheel-to-wheel action! De Vries passed Perez into Turn 4 but Perez got the AlphaTauri back on the exit.
Yellow flag
Back in Bahrain, we've got a virtual safety car now as the system tests begin.
Breaking news
Away from F1, we've got some breaking news from the Formula E paddock in South Africa as two teams have now withdrawn from the event with car concerns. More here: https://www.autosport.com/formula-e/news/mahindra-withdraws-from-cape-town-e-prix-with-rear-suspension-concerns/10436347/
So, we've now got 20 minutes of the session remaining but, with the usual systems tests to come, we're now into the final few minutes of proper testing.
Stopwatch
Albon, meanwhile, clocks another improvement on the softest C5 tyres but he stays sixth - just 0.03s slower than Gasly ahead. But it was another lap where the Williams driver was having to battle the FW45 as it steps out mid-corner.
The Aussie is on the C1 tyres, so it seems the intention would be a longer run.
So Piastri is now back out after the latest round of modifications from McLaren mechanics - how many laps will he manage this time?
De Vries continues to pound around and has completed an enormous 80 laps now - quite some effort from the Dutchman this morning.
Stopwatch
Meanwhile, back on track, Albon has improved slightly but stays sixth for Williams.
Breaking news
There will be plenty of intriguing team-mate battles in F1 this year and perhaps one of the most evenly-matched is at Mercedes. Here GP Racing looks at that intra-team fight: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/what-we-can-expect-from-f1s-most-evenly-matched-team-mates-in-2023/10435859/
For those interested, de Vries manages a 1m38.4s this time around so his run of improvements ends. But Perez is on a quicker lap on his C3s!
Stopwatch
De Vries now completes a hat-trick of improvements - as this time he gains half a second to reduce to a 1m38.244s. Although that is still 7.2s off Leclerc's pace...
Stopwatch
De Vries does indeed improve, but it's just by a tenth as he moves to a 1m38.741s.

By: Autosport Staff

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