After 93 days of waiting, Formula 1 is back on track! The 2022 season ended with tests in Abu Dhabi and the 2023 season starts with the tests in Bahrain. Only time will tell if champions Verstappen and Red Bull will be able to defend their crown.
Let's quickly review how they are structured. Teams will have three days available (today, tomorrow and Saturday) in which they will be able to take to the track from 8 to 12 and from 13 to 17:30.
Since each team will be able to field one car at a time, let's see the roadmap for the morning. Red Bull sends Verstappen onto the track, Ferrari starts with Sainz, Mercedes with Russell, Alpine makes Gasly debut, McLaren starts with Piastri, Alfa Romeo with Zhou, Drugovich replaces Stroll in Aston Martin, Hulkenberg returns with Haas, AlphaTauri restarts with Tsunoda and Williams with Albon.
Red Bull and Verstappen open the tests by picking up where they left off
An ideal morning for the reigning world champions Red Bull and Max Verstappen. The Dutchman, very constant in his simulation, closes the first morning of testing in command with a time of 1:32.959, detaching the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz by two tenths. Like other pilots, the number 1 also had time to ride with flow-vis, the fluorescent paint used to control airflow and turbulence.
Ferrari: Sainz immediately behind, but the nose?
Also the Ferrari restarts from second position, with Carlos Sainz which closes two tenths from Verstappen. There is, however, a small alarm bell. Indeed, at high speed, the muzzle flexes and a hole is created. Ferrari has already specified that it was an assembly problem: a screw was not installed correctly and consequently created a small void inside the nose.
Mercedes chases in tests, but there is confidence
Moving on to Mercedes, George Russell closes in fifth position the morning session, also behind Albon and Zhou. The times (+1.215 from Verstappen) are still to be taken with a grain of salt. In fact, at the Silver Arrows box we find a relaxed environment, confident of being able to improve the results for 2022.
A detail that has intrigued are the steering cables of the W14. These are triaxial accelerometers which monitor any longitudinal vibrations caused by pouring, which so many pains inflicted on Mercedes last season.
The point on the others: immediately problems for Aston Martin
Quickly summarizing the morning of the other seven teams, the third instead of Alex's Williams Albon. The Thai, in his second season with the Grove team, accumulated the most spins of all (74) and finished half a second behind Sainz.
In fourth position, then, Guanyu's Alfa Romeo Zhou, Followed by Russell, Hulkenberg e Drugovich. For the Brazilian driver, called in extremis to replace the convalescent Lance Stroll, there were immediately some problems. His AMR23 has runway stop for a probable problem with the sensors.
Even the German of the Haas, back on the grid with a “full-time” seat for the first time since 2019, saw fly away a piece from yours car, then promptly fixed. They follow the AlphaTauri's tsunoda (eighth) and the Alpine's gasly (ninth). The debutant Oscar closes the ranking Piastres, who drove a McLaren with pitot tube rakes to measure dynamic pressure.
That's all for the first official session of 2023, the appointment is at 13 afternoon shift!
