MADRID, 24 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish drivers Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) signed this Friday morning the best and third best time in the second day of the official Formula 1 pre-season test, at the Bahrain International Circuit, with the Logan Sargeant’s Williams as an unexpected second-place finisher.
Despite the fact that it is usually in the afternoon session where the best times are seen, because the teams choose that time slot for the fastest lap attempts and it resembles the weather and temperature conditions on the track of the Grand Prix that will open this 2023 World Cup, this second morning session left Carlos Sainz and his new SF-23 as the best.
The Madrid driver achieved a 1:32.486 with which he led the session until the lunch break, and with which he surpassed his best time from yesterday, confirming a small step forward for the Ferrari car. Sainz, who did 70 laps on the Sakhir track, was firm in the long runs, which were the predominant note of the session.
Just 63 thousandths of a second gave Sainz that first place, but rookie Logan Sargeant’s second place in his Williams is deceptive, since he was the only one of the 10 cars on the track with soft rubber and, for sure, he achieved it lightly fueled looking for a hopeful fast lap.
After making his debut on Thursday afternoon, this time the two-time world champion Fernando Alonso took his new Aston Martin for 64 laps, this time without problems on the flat bottom in the ‘pit stop’ drills -as in his debut- -, and sign a 1:32.969 full of good omens, less than half a second behind the time of his compatriot.
Without Max Verstappen, this time the new Red Bull evolved from the current champion car was driven by the Mexican Sergio Pérez, who did 76 laps and signed a discreet seventh place, ahead of a Lewis Hamilton who also did not squeeze his new black pearl W14 from Mercedes.
The worst record was signed by the AlphaTauri of the Japanese Yuki Tsunoda, 3.2 seconds behind Sainz, but against the Japanese he was the one who gave the most laps to the Bahrain circuit, with 85, with race simulation included; something that several of the riders did in this session, more designed for long runs than to push their chests for one lap, with the exception of Williams.
Without accidents or notable incidents, they surprised the FIA tests with the yellow and red flags in the last quarter of an hour. And, with two minutes to go, when a mock start was prepared from the grid, the grotesque arrived: only one pilot started as soon as the traffic lights went out.
Others, like Carlos Sainz himself or Lewis Hamilton, tried it but had to deviate and brake to avoid eating, in the case of the Spaniard, Lando Norris’s McLaren, which came out when he wanted and not when he had to. There was almost no collective wrecking of cars in tests that do not have spare cars.