The final tests ended this afternoon in Bahrain before the curtain opens on the 2023 season next weekend. The last act saw Checo Perez stand out, followed by Lewis Hamilton and a Valtteri Bottas with an Alfa Romeo which seems to have solved the mechanical problems that had blocked the Finn in the pits in the morning and for part of this last afternoon of testing.
Ferrari: still a lot of work
"The first race is the real test”, so Charles Leclerc he stated in the first episode of the fifth season of Drive to Survive, but although it is a quote from last season, it can very well be used to describe these three test days and reassure the fans. After the best time recorded by the Monegasque in the morning in 1:31.024, it is Sainz's turn to take to the track to collect the latest data necessary for the car.
That "dimple" on the snout reappears again red, especially in the forehand, which had worried Shakir's first day of school on the track. Nonetheless Carlos managed to dominate the first half of the afternoon session, clocking +0.012m over his teammate's time, but with a softer tire than what will be available here in Bahrain next week.
Perez gets first time in tests
In these days we have seen a RB19 worthy heir to the world champion RB18, a concrete and constant single-seater, especially with an excellent race pace. Sergio Perez on the afternoon of Saturday 25 February experimented on the track, trying the race pace without DRS and mounting a new C3 tyre.
Just as for Hamilton, however, the best time came when the asphalt and air temperature dropped and the Mexican threw himself into a flying lap that brings good hopes to Redbull in view of Saturday's qualifying, considering that in the season 2022 on Saturday saw Ferrari triumph.
Mercedes fine, but is that enough?
Evening falls on the circuit and on the track Hamilton's 3 sectors light up in fuchsia, leading him to first position a Mercedes that looked subdued, at least in this afternoon session. However, Sir Lewis breathes, when the track conditions turn out to be the same as those that will find the 20 riders on the grid next Saturday 4 March, during qualifying for the first Grand Prix of the season.
Aston Martin and Alonso, a dream
The Aston Martin driven by ex Alpine, Fernando Alonso, although he ranks 9th in the daily classification on the third day of testing, looks very promising. The Asturian put on a C3 tire and tested the race pace, but the impression he gave was that the green car was flying. At Aston, they have experimented with different set-ups and AMR23 starts the championship with a good platform to develop over the course of the season and in the future.
On the other hand, one of the other so-called "mid-field" teams is not promising, la McLaren, that after the problems with the front flaps this morning, it sits in the garage for almost an hour, with a Lando Norris who totals 37 laps of the circuit.
Well instead Bottas who using softer compounds places him in third place after the mechanical problems he had in the morning.
The fastest in absolute terms
It's Valterri Bottas the third fastest driver of the 3 days of testing in Bahrain. In the late afternoon, former teammate, Lewis Hamilton takes second place, which is surprising after the words reported to the microphones of the press. In fact, the 7-times world champion said he had problems driving his W14, especially on the second day of testing, but already this morning the performance of the Brackley single-seater driven by George Russell seems to have improved. The Mexican Perez conquers the absolute first time, with 1: 30.305, lowering the lowest time of the pole, obtained by Shakir from Leclerc.
Test day 3 daily ranking
