Analysis of the first day of testing in Bahrain
We’ll be closing our live stream for now, but of course it’s still live for you! Kevin Shoren and Christian Nimmervoll now analyze Live on the Formel1.de YouTube channel Thursday test in Bahrain.
Tomorrow we’ll be driving again from 8:00am to 5:30pm, and of course we’ll get back to you in time with a new version of the stock tape. Have a nice evening, enjoy our analysis and see you tomorrow!
Sergeant: I felt better and better
The Williams driver finished the day without any major issues and ended up in P10. Decent result for a beginner. “I have the feeling that I felt more relaxed as the day went on,” says the American.
“At the moment the kilometers are the most important thing for the team,” he teaches and explains that tomorrow you just have to keep going like this. Because today he did 75 laps so significantly more than one race distance.
For him personally, it’s all about finding a window that makes him feel comfortable in the car. “Tomorrow we should be able to do a few performance laps, because today was a long run,” he explains.
It’s also his last chance, because tomorrow will be his last day in the car before the start. Teammate Albon gets the exclusive on Saturday.
What happened to Magnussen in the end?
Dane was in the pits longer in the evening. “There were only very small problems,” he explains it all and confirms: “nothing was broken, we just had to fix a few things.” Sometimes it gets a little complicated with these complex cars, even though they are just minor things.
“It looked worse than it was,” he explains, emphasizing that today’s program was able to keep going despite the lost time. So first impressions of the new car were ‘good’. However, I only collected data and mileage.
“As a chauffeur, you always want to push,” Magnussen reveals. But that was not the point today. In total, he and teammate Hulkenberg completed 108 laps today – despite the problem at the end.
Complete overview
Now Aston Martin has announced that only regular driver Alonso will test tomorrow. All 10 teams have now posted their lineups for tomorrow. Here is an overview:
Alfa Romeo: Chu
AlphaTauri: Tsunoda/De Vries
Alps: Ocon/Gasly
Aston Martin: Alonso
Ferrari: Sainz / Leclerc
Haas: Magnussen/Hulkenberg
McLaren: Norris/Piastri
Mercedes: Hamilton/Russell
Red Bull: Perez / Verstappen
Williams: Sgt
‘Drive To Survive’: Is Season 5 Worth It?
Season 5 of “Drive To Survive” will be released on Netflix tomorrow, just in time for a test drive. But is it worth it? Our colleague Philippe Clearin has already seen the new season and tells you what to expect.
You can find his opinion here!
Alfa Romeo: Bottas praises ‘improvements’
“It feels good, but I don’t know how good the other cars are,” the Finn sums up after P12 today and explains that he “clearly feels some improvement” compared to last year. “Particularly positive” is reliability.
Because this was not always the case with Alfa Romeo 2022. “This is a big difference compared to last year’s tests,” Bottas confirms and also adds: “The rear of the car has definitely become more stable, which was a weak point last year.”
The porpoise process is also “definitely better” than in the 2022 tests. “But it hasn’t gone away yet,” Bottas explains. However, it was a good day because “all the major problems” from the previous year could have been eliminated.
Tires
This isn’t entirely unimportant information from Pirelli, who set their fastest lap of the day on the tyres. That at least helps a bit with rating times. Alpine, for example, only used the stiffer C2 tires, which explains the bad placements.
Albon, on the other hand, was the only rider on the softer C4 tires when he set his best time. However, there are of course still far too many unknown factors to really be able to draw anything from a result.
Hulkenberg: First impression of the Haas VF-23
Speaking of Germany: After the resignation of Sebastian Vettel and the temporary end of Mick Schumacher, Nico Hulkenberg will be the only German Formula 1 driver to start in 2023. Today he completed 51 laps in a Haas VF-23 during testing.
“It’s still early days, but we’re now starting to explore the car and its limits,” he says, stressing: “This is just the beginning. It’s a long, long way and we still have a lot of things to improve.”
His full conclusion after the first day of testing can be found here!
Sky secures Nico Rosberg
Some news for all Sky viewers: Nico Rosberg will be available to the station as an expert in 2023. He’s played the role in the past and will return this year.
“In addition to Ralf Schumacher and Timo Glock, Nico Rosberg will be used on select race weekends,” Sky stated in a press release. In addition, a “close collaboration” with Sky UK was announced.
According to Sky, Rosberg is set to accompany five Grand Prix weekends on the German broadcaster: starting in Bahrain, Imola, Budapest, Monza and Qatar.
In 2023, Sky will once again broadcast Formula 1 exclusively in Germany. Some races are said to be shown again on free-to-air TV, but RTL is no longer around as a partner.
The most important thing from the first day of the test…
… We’ve also put together a compact summary in this photo series. Click through!
Verstappen: Start ‘much easier’ for everyone
By the way, we also received a statement from today’s leader on this matter! “It was fine,” Verstappen reports, explaining that it was “a clean day with no problems.” But this is not surprising either.
“I think it took more time last year to get used to the car and understand what you have to do. Of course, with all the knowledge from last year, it’s easier for everyone to come back here,” said Verstappen.
Because while the cars were brand new at the time, the 2023 cars are just an evolution. “But it’s good to see how the new car has evolved compared to last year,” said the world champion.
In the end it was a “good day”.
more mileage than in 2022
Exciting: Aside from McLaren (92 laps), all teams led at least 100 laps today. This is much higher than in 2022, when four teams – Aston Martin, Alpine, McLaren and Haas – stayed under 100 laps on the first day in Bahrain.
And there was also a noticeable increase in front: the Red Bull team, represented by Verstappen, completed 157 laps today, and a year ago the Bulls were also leading the lap table, but “only” with 138 laps.
This shows how stable new cars this year have been since the beginning. There was only one red flag.
AlphaTauri gives P6 as a target for the season
In 2022, AlphaTauri finished the World Cup in penultimate place. Franz Tost told us today that the result of the top 6 results in 2023 is “realistic”. The P5 will probably be “a little too tough”, admits the team boss.
“But our goal is to be in the top six,” he confirms and explains: “Last year our car was too heavy. We weren’t good enough in terms of aerodynamics and made some other mistakes.”
“I hope we can prevent that this year,” said Tost, emphasizing that “the aerodynamics team at Bicester did a really good job. But we also have to see how good our direct competitors are.”
You’ll have a clearer picture of the balance of power after about three races.
Time to withdraw!
No more improvements, so the best test time in 2023 goes to the World Champion. Verstappen also leads the most laps with 157. Almost three distances at the Bahrain Grand Prix!
FIA testing is over
The road is open again, so we still have a few minutes. First of all, advice: even after the end of the test, the indicator will, of course, last a little more. We’ll then give you some votes on the first day of testing in Bahrain!
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