Pre-season testing report: Comparison of lap times 2023 vs 2022
Last year, the pre-season tests were already taking place in Bahrain, including the difficulties related to the implementation of the new technical regulations. However, just like this year, very few reliability issues had appeared during the winter tests. A year later, here is the assessment.
Since 2022, F1 cars have a new look and, above all, specific aerodynamics. The cars have been improved throughout the 2022 season, and the 2023 F1 cars are inspired by what seemed to be best designed by competing teams.
So, in 2023, we saw many teams being inspired by the work done by Red Bull. Therefore, while Force India had once copied ideas from Mercedes, in 2023, Aston Martin (the new name) drew heavy inspiration from Red Bull’s concept.
Comparison of lap times in 2023 compared to pre-season tests in 2022:
| Drivers | Teams | Times 2023 – Pneus | Times 2022 – Pneus | Gap | |
| 1 | Perez | Red Bull | 1:30.305 – C4 | 1:33.105 – C4 | -2.800 |
| 2 | Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:30.664 – C5 | 1:34.141 – C5 | -3.477 |
| 3 | Bottas | Alfa Roméo | 1:30.827 – C5 | 1:32.985 – C3 | -2.158 |
| 4 | Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:31.024 – C4 | 1:32.415 – C4 | -1.324 |
| 5 | Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | 1:31.036 – C4 | 1:33.532 – C4 | -2.496 |
| 6 | Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 1:31.261 – C4 | 1:33.002 – C5 | -1.741 |
| 7 | Magnussen | Haas | 1:31.381 – C4 | 1:33.207 – C4 | -1.826 |
| 8 | Russell | Mercedes | 1:31.442 – C5 | 1:32.759 – C5 | -1.371 |
| 9 | Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:31.450 – C4 | Team différente | |
| 10 | Guanyu | Alfa Roméo | 1:31.610 – C5 | 1:33.959 – C4 | -2.349 |
| 11 | Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:31.650 – C3 | 1:31.720 – C5 | -0.070 |
| 12 | Drugovich | Aston Martin | 1:32.075 – C5 | Absent | |
| 13 | Norris | McLaren | 1:32.160 – C3 | 1:33.191 – C3 | -1.031 |
| 14 | De Vries | AlphaTauri | 1:32.222 – C4 | Absent | |
| 15 | Hülkenberg | Haas | 1:32.466 – C4 | Absent | |
| 16 | Sargeant | Williams | 1:32.549 – C5 | Absent | |
| 17 | Gasly | Alpine | 1:32.762 – C3 | Team différente | |
| 18 | Albon | Williams | 1:32.793 – C5 | 1:35.070 – C4 | -2.277 |
| 19 | Piastri | McLaren | 1:33.175 – C3 | Absent | |
| 20 | Ocon | Alpine | 1:33.257 – C3 | 1:34.276 – C4 | -1.019 |
It is interesting to note that Red Bull with Perez improved its lap time by nearly 3 seconds compared to 2022, however, this is not the case for Verstappen, who, on different settings, only improved his time compared to 2022 by 70 milliseconds.
The biggest individual improvement goes to Hamilton, who improved his lap times between the 2022 and 2023 tests by nearly 3.5 seconds. His teammate Russell improved by 1.3 seconds.
Ocon’s Alpine, despite a very low position in the standings, still improved his time by 2.3 seconds compared to the 2022 trials.
Not all times are obviously comparable since some drivers have changed teams and were not present during the 2022 tests in Bahrain, and especially because the tire compounds were not identical.
The gains between 2023 and 2022 of each team.
| Team | Times 2023 | Times 2022 | Gap | |
| 1 | Williams | 1:32.549 (Sargeant C5) | 1:35.070 (Albon C4) | -2.378 |
| 2 | Aston Martin | 1:31.450 (Alonso C4) | 1:33.821 (Vettel C4) | -2.371 |
| 3 | Alfa Roméo | 1:30.827 (Bottas C5) | 1:32.985 (Bottas C3) | -2.158 |
| 4 | Mercedes | 1:30.664 (Hamilton C5) | 1:32.759 (Russell C5) | -2.095 |
| 5 | AlphaTauri | 1:31.261 (Tsunoda C4) | 1:33.002 (Tsunoda C5) | -1.741 |
| 6 | Red Bull | 1:30.305 (Perez C4) | 1:31.720 (Verstappen C5) | -1.415 |
| 7 | Ferrari | 1:31.024 (Leclerc C4) | 1:32.415 (Leclerc C4) | -1.391 |
| 8 | McLaren | 1:32.160 (Norris C3) | 1:33.191 (Norris C3) | -1.011 |
| 9 | Haas | 1:31.381 (Magnusen C4) | 1:32.241 (Schumacher C4) | -0.860 |
| 10 | Alpine | 1:32.762 (Gasly C3) | 1:32.698 (Alonso C4) | +0.064 |
On this second comparison, Williams is the team that has won the most times between 2022 and 2023. However, the team achieved its best time in 2023 with a better range of tires than its best time in 2022. We can therefore estimate that a slight advantage related to the tires of at least 3 tenths or more can be taken into account.
However, we notice that Aston Martin, with identical tires, is making significant progress. With Alonso behind the wheel in 2023 compared to Vettel in 2022, the AMR improves its lap time by 2.3 seconds.
Alfa Romeo has also significantly improved its lap time but with different tire compounds. Bottas used the softest ones in 2023, whereas in 2022 his best time was on C3 tires, which are harder in the range.
Aston Martin, Mercedes, Ferrari, and Haas are the only four teams with identical tire compounds. Therefore, their times can be compared accordingly.
Red Bull achieved its best time with a harder range than in 2022, indicating that Red Bull could still improve its time. This is also the case for Alpine, which used the C3 tires to set its fastest lap, despite an estimated significant time difference of at least 1 second per lap between the C3 and C5 tires.
