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After three days, 3,695 laps and virtually 20,000 kilometres, the only pre-season take a look at forward of Formulation 1’s longest ever season has come to a detailed in Bahrain.
As soon as once more, groups’ ultimate alternative to arrange their new vehicles forward of the upcoming season got here on the identical venue because the opening spherical of the championship. That additionally means it gives an opportunity to match every groups’ occasions and mileage to their pre-season efficiency from final yr.
Naturally, not one of the 10 groups had been pushing their vehicles to their absolute limits over the course of the three days. There can be loads of efficiency left within the tank able to be unleashed subsequent week, when it really issues. However that isn’t to say there will not be some observations to make now that the pre-season is formally over and a 24-round championship lastly will get underway.
Lap occasions: Driver
Carlos Sainz Jnr has participated in 5 pre-season exams over his 4 years as a Ferrari driver, however he has by no means been the quickest total till his ultimate one. The person who will go away the Scuderia on the conclusion of the 2024 season set the quickest time of everywhere in the three days; a 1’29.921, making him the one driver to interrupt below the 90-second mark.
Final yr, Sainz’s time would have been adequate to earn third place on the Bahrain Grand Prix grid. Nonetheless, he set this quickest lap on the C4 compound tyres – a step softer than he could have out there to him throughout subsequent weekend’s occasion.
Sainz’s finest lap of testing got here within the second day, not the ultimate one when most groups set their finest occasions. However his Ferrari workforce mate Charles Leclerc was the quickest on Friday with a 1’30.322 – additionally set on a compound he is not going to be operating subsequent weekend. The closest to the Ferrari duo was Mercedes, with George Russell posting a 1’30.368 within the ultimate hour of testing, additionally on the C4s, whereas Sauber ended testing within the high 4 on the time sheets for the second straight yr as Zhou Guanyu’s ultimate lap of the take a look at noticed him go simply barely faster than the 2 Purple Bulls of Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen.
On the different finish of the time sheet, Kevin Magnussen had the slowest finest time of any driver for Haas. Nonetheless, provided that his finest time of a 1’33.053 was slower than his quickest time of final yr’s pre-season take a look at, it’s truthful to say it’s most likely not price studying an excessive amount of into single-lap efficiency.
Lap occasions: Workforce
With Sainz quickest and his Ferrari workforce mate Leclerc each sat on the high of the occasions on the finish of the take a look at, it could be simple to assume Ferrari workforce principal Frederic Vasseur can be buoyed by his workforce’s exhibiting. Nonetheless, Vasseur was extra involved by Ferrari’s long-run efficiency, which was their important weak spot final yr.
“Our first purpose was to see if the SF-24 carried out predictably, not being overly delicate to variations within the exterior situations and that it was simple to drive,” he defined. “From what Charles and Carlos have mentioned and looking out on the consistency of their efficiency over a future, it appears we had been profitable on this entrance.”
Whereas Purple Bull set the tempo in final yr’s take a look at heading into the brand new season, the world champions had been solely fourth-fastest over the three days. However the rumblings from all their rivals strongly suggests that everybody expects them to be the workforce to beat subsequent week.
Three groups who would count on to be combating for normal factors each race weekend – McLaren, Aston Martin and Alpine – had been all to be discovered among the many backside 4 groups. Though Alpine had been the workforce with the slowest finest time of the ten, each Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly had been very glad with their three days’ work.
However whereas Aston Martin made a robust impression within the pre-season take a look at final yr earlier than backing their up absolutely within the first grand prix, the Silverstone-based workforce had been much less conspicuous this yr.
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2024 pre-season lap occasions in comparison with final yr’s grand prix
With Bahrain internet hosting pre-season exams earlier than the beginning of the all three championships within the floor impact period, it’s hanging how far lap occasions have dropped in simply two years’ time. Again in 2022, the very best time of the take a look at was Verstappen’s 1’31.720. That was overwhelmed by the world champion on the primary day in 2024.
However Purple Bull appeared content material to not push their new RB20 an excessive amount of earlier than the beginning of the season, as neither Verstappen nor Perez matched the workforce’s finest time from 2023 – solely demonstrating how assured the champions seem like feeling.
Williams workforce principal James Vowles has been brazenly bullish about how aggressive the brand new FW46 is in its design. Though they had been the one workforce to undergo a stoppage on observe over the three days, they did make the most important enchancment over final yr. Not simply by discovering over a second-and-a-half over their finest take a look at time from final yr, however virtually half a second over their finest lap all through the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix weekend.
However Williams weren’t the most important gainers. Purple Bull’s second workforce, RB, have discovered not less than six tenths from final yr’s Bahrain Grand Prix on the observe, whereas Sauber have gained greater than anybody, discovering virtually eight tenths of lap time within the area of 12 months.
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2024 pre-season mileages in comparison with final yr
So usually over pre-season testing, groups are at pains to level out that whereas lap occasions matter little in testing, lap counts are a lot extra vital. However three years into the present technology of technical laws, its truthful to say that the brand new vehicles proved extremely dependable – even when the identical couldn’t be mentioned for the circuit itself.
Over three days, there was not a single purple flag stoppage attributable to a automotive stepping into hassle out on observe. When the session was stopped, it wasn’t the vehicles that had failed however the observe, drain covers twice coming free on the strategy to show 11.
Whereas many groups needed to spend prolonged durations of time within the storage operating repairs and providers on their vehicles, just one workforce – Williams – had a automotive cease on observe when Alexander Albon pulled off close to the tip of the primary session on the primary day. Unsurprisingly, they notched up the fewest laps of any workforce – one shy of 300 – with second-year driver Logan Sargeant overlaying 746km over his two days within the automotive, fewest of anybody.
In the meantime, on the opposite finish of the dimensions, Haas might have been one of many slower groups however they simply topped the mileage rankings with 441 laps and a pair of,386km between Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg – an encouraging begin to the Ayao Komatsu period. Ferrari had been the one different workforce to get greater than 400 laps in over the three days, with Purple Bull third with 391.
After back-to-back poor pre-seasons over the past two years, McLaren will doubtless be proud of their 1,769km of observe time. Whereas it was the second-lowest complete of the ten groups, they had been one among solely two groups – with Haas – to log extra laps over the past three days than they did in 2023.
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