Max Verstappen ended day one of 2023 Formula 1 testing, at Bahrain International Circuit, top of the timesheets, the reigning World Champion going a tad quicker in the afternoon session than he was in the morning.
Also notable is that Verstappen’s top time was less than a tenth faster than Fernando Alonso’s in the Aston Martin, and the top eight times were within one second.
While McLaren and Aston Martin had niggles, generally the reliability of these cars is impressive as the hybrid-turbos have matured considerably; not long ago stoppages were plentiful and mileage meagre. But not so in 2023, the PUs are behaving and allowing drivers to get back into the swing of things rapidly.
Verstappen spent the full day in the Red Bull RB19 which the team claim is an evolution of the mighty 15-race winning RB18 of last year, the Dutch ace racking up impressive mileage, while the other teams opted to run both their drivers during the course of day one in Sakhir.
Hence, of the 20 regular drivers, Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll were absent; the Mexican set for a full day in the car on Friday, while the Canadian is injured and has Felipe Drugovich subbing for him, possibly even doing the first race in Bahrain next week, for Aston Martin.
? DAY 1 TESTING ?
850km done and 157 laps on the board ✅
Fastest time of the day ✅A monstrous effort by @Max33Verstappen and @redbullracing ?#F1 #F1Testing pic.twitter.com/wRD3EYwKbQ
— Formula 1 (@F1) February 23, 2023
The #1 Red Bull blitzed in 1:32.837, Verstappen posting a remarkable 157 laps at the Bahrain Grand Prix venue today, a race of 67 laps. He hands over the car to Perez for the day.
After a few niggles in the morning, with Drugovich on duty, Fernando Alonso gave his new team Aston Martin reason to smile, popping up second fastest and less than a tenth shy of the top time.
The Ferrari duo were next up on the timesheets, Carlos Sainz remaining third from the morning session, and Charles Leclerc ending fourth-quickest.
Despite a delay before he took over the McLaren from rookie teammate Oscar Piastri, Norris was fifth quickest, ahead of the #44 Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton in sixth.
A quick ‘surface’ scan at the sharp end, and it appears that Red Bull and Ferrari have good cars, Mercedes are chasing which is much like last year, this time around the Aston Martin provided the surprise, last year it was the Haas.
Alex Albon was seventh fastest in the Williams, with rookie Logan Sargeant enjoying a solid run to round out the top ten. Between the pair, Guanyu Zhou was eighth in the Alfa Romeo, ahead of George Russell in the Mercedes in ninth
Of the other rookies, AlphaTauri’s Nyck Devries did the most mileage of the drivers doing half-day shifts, with 85 laps on his chart and the 13th-best time overall; Oscar Piastri was 18th on the time sheets with 52 laps covered in the McLaren; Drugovich was 14th in the Aston Martin.
Returnee Nico Hulkenberg managed 51 laps, setting the 11th-best time in the process while his Haas teammate Kevin Magnussen did half a dozen laps more but ended the day slowest of all.
Both Alpine drivers were lower than expected, with Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon 16th and 17th separated by less than a tenth. Yuki Tsunoda was 15th in the other AlphaTauri.
More of the same on Friday and Saturday, which will make up the full extent of F1 testing ahead of the 2023 F1 season, which begins with the Bahrain Grand Prix on 5 March.
Verstappen fastest in the morning F1 testing session
Earlier in the day Verstappen topped the timing sheets at the end of the morning session. The first running for the 2023 F1 machinery was almost drama free, aside from Aston Martin’s AMR23 breaking down with Felipe Drugovich at the wheel early in the session causing a Red Flag that lasted 20 minutes.
It was an electronics issue that caused the AMR23 to stop on the side of the track, which the team sorted and sent their reserve driver – replacing the injured Lance Stroll after a bike accident – out on track again.
Pirelli announced that they have brought all the tyres compounds for the teams to sample at the three-day pre-season test in Bahrain.
We’re bringing ✨all✨ the compounds to #F1‘s Bahrain pre-season test ??
Here’s how to tell the tyres apart when the cars are out on track ? #F1 #Fit4F1 pic.twitter.com/6tcRmFdAEa
— Pirelli Motorsport (@pirellisport) February 22, 2023
Verstappen was the fastest driver at the end of the morning session on Thursday, clocking a lap of 1:32.959, 2.4s slower than the pole time Charles Leclerc registered in qualifying at the same venue in 2022.
The Dutchman went around the Bahrain International Circuit 71 times before the lunch break.
Up next was Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari, second fastest with a best time of 1:33.253 after accumulating 72 laps in the F1-23 which he will hand over to Charles Leclerc in the afternoon.
Third fastest was Williams’ Alex Albon in the FW45, 0.712s off the pace of Verstappen, with 74 laps, with rookie Logan Sargeant set to take over after the break.
Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu drove 67 laps on his way to the fourth fastest time, a 1:33.723, 0.052s behind Albon and will make way for Valtteri Bottas for the rest of the day.
George Russell in the new Mercedes W14 was fifth fastest at the end of the morning Thursday session, recording a best time of 1:34.174 with lap count of 69. Lewis Hamilton will take over after lunch.
? 69 laps for GR this morning. LH up next in the W14 this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/7jaMhjaTru
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) February 23, 2023
Nico Hulkenberg drove 51 lap for Haas and clocked a 1:34.424, good enough to be sixth fastest, with his teammate Kevin Magnussen set to drive the VF-23 for the remaining of Thursday’s running.
Aston Martin bounced back from their early-session trouble, and sorted out their electronics issue that hit their AMR23, as Felipe Drugovich went on to complete 40 laps with the seventh fastest time; a 1:34.564.
Yuki Tsunoda drove 46 laps for AlphaTauri, going eighth fastest with a 1:34.671, followed by Pierre Gasly who was ninth fastest on his first session with Alpine.
Gasly racked up 60 laps, his best time being 1:34.822. Esteban Ocon takes over from Gasly after lunch.
Tenth fastest was Oscar Piastri in McLaren, the rookie driving 52 laps with a best time of 1:34.888, as Lando Norris prepares to drive the MCL60 in the afternoon.
F1 IS BACK! ???
Carlos couldn’t wait to get going! ?
Do we count this as our first overtake of the year? ?#F1 #F1Testing @CarlosSainz55 pic.twitter.com/tnseyoGxyv
— Formula 1 (@F1) February 23, 2023
Ferrari’s deforming nose
Ferrari turned heads early on during the test as the nose of the SF-23 seemed to be deforming on the straights, but it was not a aero trick from the Scuderia, rather a weak and non-structural point in the nose that deformed under pressure.
Ferrari confirmed that was not intentional but rather a byproduct of weight saving.
#F1 #HappyTesting #F1Testing How odd. The Ferrari, at high speed, has a dent in the nose but when it brakes, it pops out again. Hmmm. #MsportXtra @ScarbsTech @AlbertFabrega pic.twitter.com/9Vjdt9y80G
— #MsportXtra © (@MsportXtra) February 23, 2023
In the final 15 minutes of the session, a systems checks was done, with Yellow Flags and then a Virtual Safety Car just to confirm everything was ok.
Session Official Times and Lap Counts
