Alonso, At 41, he was therefore close to leading the day at the controls of his Aston Martin, a team in which he made his debut after leaving Alpine.
The times, in any case, are anecdotal on this first day of testing, which is synonymous for the start-up teams for their single-seaters.
“We have concentrated on a set-up job, combined with tire and aero(dynamics) tests, as well as tests with different fuel levels”Sainz Jr. explained.
Under a strong sun and with twenty degrees, Verstappen was the only driver to chain laps around the circuit throughout the day. Each team has a single car for these tests and they preferred to alternate between their two drivers.
“We had a good day today. We did a lot of laps, which is what we wanted, almost the equivalent of three Grands Prix.”declared Verstappen.
On Friday, the Dutch driver will share the wheel of his RB19 with his Mexican teammate Sergio Pérez, who will have the entire car to himself on Saturday.
Ferrari He was also pleased with his day of testing with the SF-23, which so far has not had the reliability issues that plagued his 2022 car.
“Reliability was good and we were able to circulate without problem (…) obtaining valuable information, something that is encouraging”Leclerc celebrated.
The Mercedes of the British Lewis Hamilton and George Russell they finished the day with the sixth and ninth best time, respectively.
Pre-season testing continues until Saturday, before the first Grand Prix of the season, which takes place at the same Sakhir circuit next week.
– Classification at the end of the first day of the three pre-season tests in Bahrain:
- Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull) 1:32.837 (157 laps)
- Fernando Alonso (ESP/Aston Martin) 1:32.866 (60)
- Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP/Ferrari) 1:33.253 (72)
- Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari) 1:33.267 (64)
- Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren) 1:33.462 (40)
- Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 1:33.508 (83)
- Alexander Albon (THA/Williams) 1:33.671 (74)
- Zhou Guanyu (CHN/Alfa Romeo) 1:33.723 (67)
- George Russell (GBR/Mercedes) 1:34.174 (69)
- Logan Sergeant (USA/Williams) 1:34.324 (75)
- Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Haas) 1:34.424 (51)
- Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Alfa Romeo) 1:34.558 (71)
- Nyck De Vries (NED/AlphaTauri) 1:34.559 (85)
- Felipe Drugovich (BRA/Aston Martin) 1:34.564 (40)
- Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/AlphaTauri) 1:34.671 (46)
- Pierre Gasly (FRA/Alpine) 1:34.822 (60)
- Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine) 1:34.871 (53)
- Oscar Piastri (AUS/McLaren) 1:34.888 (52)
- Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Haas) 1:35.087 (57).
Source: Ambito
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
