Testing 1 2 3...2024
The three days of F1 testing has come and gone for another year. The 2024 season is set to be a very interesting one, with much of the midfield close together. The battle at the top is also one to watch. Will Red Bull run away with both titles again, or will they face challengers in the form of McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes and Aston Martin?
So, how did testing in 2024 look like…
Wednesday
First of all, who were in the cars during the day.
Red Bull - Verstappen (all day)
Mercedes - Russell (all day)
Ferrari - Leclerc (AM) Sainz (PM)
McLaren - Piastri (AM) Norris (PM)
Aston Martin - Alonso (AM) Stroll (PM)
Alpine - Ocon (AM) Gasly (PM)
Williams - Albon (AM) Sargeant (PM)
Visa Cash App RB F1 Team - Tsunoda (AM) Ricciardo (PM)
Kick Sauber Stake F1 Team - Bottas (AM) Zhou (PM)
Haas - Magnussen (AM) Hulkenberg (PM)
So with 18 out of the 20 drivers taking their cars the for first few laps around the Bahrain circuit in 2024, we saw loads of lap times come in. Who was the fastest?
The top three of the morning session were Max Verstappen (1:32.548), Charles Leclerc (1:33.247), and Fernando Alonso (1:33.385). These three drivers totalled 207 laps - and that’s just three drivers in a 4 hour session! The afternoon session began with 8 of the 10 teams swapping their drivers.
The top three of the whole day were Max Verstappen (1:31.344), Lando Norris (1:32.484), and Carlos Sainz (1:32.584).
Having been in the car all day, Verstappen led the way with his lap count having gone round the circuit a huge 143 times in 8 hours. In terms of all the drivers that took part in Wednesday’s sessions, in total, they went round the track a whopping 1236 times!
Thursday
The second day of testing arrived with two drivers taking to the wheel of their cars for the first time during testing. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Sergio Perez (Red Bull) hopped in their respective cars for the whole day on Thursday. As for the other teams, their schedule comprised of:
Ferrari - Leclerc (AM) Sainz (PM)
McLaren - Oscar (AM) Lando (PM)
Aston Martin - Alonso (AM) Stroll (PM)
Alpine - Gasly (AM) Ocon (PM)
Williams - Sargeant (all day)
Visa Cash App RB F1 Team - Tsunoda (AM) Ricciardo (PM)
Kick Sauber Stake F1 Team - Zhou (AM) Bottas (PM)
Haas - Hulkenberg (AM) Magnussen (PM)
The morning session of Thursday’s testing was cut short when Leclerc ran over a drain cover going into Turn 11. This led to a red flag for the rest of the session after debris was left on the circuit.
So what were the best times? It was Leclerc who led the morning session with a time of 1:31.750. He was followed by Piastri (1:32.328) and Sargeant (1:32.578).
Once most of the drivers swapped over for the afternoon session, Leclerc could not hold onto the fastest time of the day. Instead, it was his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz who was quickest over the two sessions. Sainz clocked in a 1:29.921. The second fastest driver of the day was Perez (1:30.679), and the third quickest was Hamilton (1:31.066).
Friday
The last day of testing arrived. This was the final time the teams could run their new cars before a Grand Prix weekend. 19 out of the 20 drivers (Sargeant sitting out the sessions after having the car to himself on Thursday) took to the track.
Sainz had his time to shine on Thursday, and this time it was Leclerc who topped the time sheets. He set a time of 1:30.322. Leclerc was followed by Russell (1:30.368) and then Zhou (1:30.647).
The overall fastest time recorded came from Carlos Sainz on Thursday. However, as we all know and have tried to remind ourselves…it’s only testing. This week we will see the F1 cars take to the track in all their glory for the first Grand Prix weekend, held in Bahrain.
It looks like Red Bull and Adrian Newey have designed another championship winning car with both drivers (Verstappen especially) performing well already. But have the other teams closed the gap? We will only know how well our favourite teams and drivers are performing when it gets to the race weekend!