Local time. -2h for France.
10:00AM: And off we go for the final day of testing in Bahrain for the 10 Formula 1 teams. The goal is to correlate the results between theory (CFD and wind tunnel) and the reality on the track. The conditions are a bit hazy today and the air is heavy, with temperatures at 25°C and the track reaching 30°C.
The first to take off are Leclerc’s Ferrari and Drugovich’s Aston Martin, who is replacing the injured Stroll, injured while cycling.
10:02: Already 5 cars on the track.
10:03 AM: Perez loses a tape with sensors attached to his rear wing.
10:06 AM: 🟥 Red flag due to the tape and carbon left by Red Bull.
All the cars are heading back to the pit stop.
10:10 am: 🟢 Green light. Russell, Hülkenberg hit the track.
Today, 17 drivers are expected on the track. Three teams share the race car between the morning and the afternoon with their two regular drivers. This morning we have:
– Perez pour Red Bull
– Leclerc pour Ferrari
– Russell pour Mercedes
– Gasly pour Alpine
– Piastri pour McLaren
– Bottas pour Alfa Roméo
– Drugovich pour Aston Martin
– Hülkenberg pour Haas
– De Vries pour AlphaTauri
– Albon pour Williams
This afternoon we will see Alonso, Magnussen, Sainz, Ocon, Tsunoda, Hamilton, and Norris.
Verstappen finished his week of testing just like Zhou and Sargeant.
10:17 AM: At the moment on the stopwatch, Hülkenberg is in the lead with a time of 1:33.690. Only 5 drivers have set a time so far.
On Thursday, the fastest time was set by Verstappen with a time of 1:32.837. Yesterday, Verstappen improved his time by 1.2 seconds, but it was not enough to achieve the fastest time, which was set by the Alfa Romeo of Zhou with a time of 1:31.610.
We expect to further improve performance today, as the drivers and settings have now been fine-tuned. However, the engine power will remain in degraded mode, and the Boost will not be activated. We will have to wait for Q3 to find out more about the real performances of the 10 teams, as confirmed by Jean Alesi yesterday. For now, we’re just checking if the data matches the simulation data, but no one is showing their full potential yet. We will only know that at the very end of Q3.
10:23 AM: There is only one driver on the track: Bottas. The others are making some adjustments before heading out again.
10:32am: The ranking after 30 minutes.
Le classement du jour 3 après 30 minutes #F1testing pic.twitter.com/ygteVTeNQK
— Motors Inside F1 (@MotorsInside) February 25, 2023
10:41 am: Piastri just narrowly avoided a disaster. On a quick lap, he spun out and lost control of the car at high speed! On a different track than Bahrain, he could have hit the wall. He limps back to the pit lane with a significant flat spot on his tires. He was on three mini purple sectors, indicating he was in attack mode. Perhaps a little too much.
12:00: Lots of activities on the slopes. The conditions are good. No reliability problem regarding the time.
12:56 PM: 🟥 Red flag due to Bottas’ Alfa Romeo stopped in sector 2.
The ranking at 1 hour before the break.
Le classement à 13h #f1testing pic.twitter.com/2YfliRbNrO
— Motors Inside F1 (@MotorsInside) February 25, 2023
13:08: 🟢 Green light. The Alfa Romeo has returned on a tow truck, the drivers are authorized to resume the track.
1:55 pm: The ranking with 20 minutes remaining in the morning.
Classement à 20 min de la fin de matinée #f1testing pic.twitter.com/DgGeIVlWg7
— Motors Inside F1 (@MotorsInside) February 25, 2023
14:03: The FIA tests its security measures. Yellow flag followed by virtual safety car for safety car.
14:04: Red flag. The drivers return to the pit before going out again for a practice start.
During the break, we find Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari in the lead. He is 6 tenths faster than Zhou’s best time achieved yesterday with the Alfa Romeo. Leclerc is ahead of Russell in the Mercedes by 4 tenths. The third place goes to Drugovich in the Aston Martin with a 1-second delay.
The session will resume after 3pm, 1pm in France.
15:15: 🟢 Green light. Esteban Ocon’s Alpine, who replaces Gasly, is the only car on the track.
4:30 p.m.: The standings with 3 hours left in the practice sessions. The drivers are doing long runs and will likely test the qualifying modes a little later.
Classement à 20 min de la fin de matinée #f1testing pic.twitter.com/DgGeIVlWg7
— Motors Inside F1 (@MotorsInside) February 25, 2023
19:15: It’s over for his tests, with Sergio Perez in first position on the Red Bull with a time of 1:30.305, ahead of Hamilton and Bottas.
19:20: The drivers return to the pit lane to wait for the green light from the FIA and perform a starting grid test.
The rankings of the third day of winter private testing in Bahrain:
| N° | Driver | Team | Times | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Perez | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1:30.305 | 133 | |
| 2 | Hamilton | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport | 1:30.664 | +0.359 | 65 |
| 3 | Bottas | Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN | 1:30.827 | +0.522 | 131 |
| 4 | Leclerc | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:31.024 | +0.719 | 67 |
| 5 | Sainz | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:31.036 | +0.731 | 75 |
| 6 | Tsunoda | Scuderia AlphaTauri | 1:31.261 | +0.956 | 79 |
| 7 | Magnussen | Haas F1 Team | 1:31.381 | +1.076 | 94 |
| 8 | Russell | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport | 1:31.442 | +1.137 | 83 |
| 9 | Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team | 1:31.450 | +1.145 | 80 |
| 10 | Drugovich | Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team | 1:32.075 | +1.770 | 77 |
| 11 | Norris | McLaren F1 Team | 1:32.160 | +1.855 | 37 |
| 12 | Gasly | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 1:32.762 | +2.457 | 56 |
| 13 | Albon | Williams Racing | 1:32.793 | +2.488 | 136 |
| 14 | Ocon | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 1:33.257 | +2.952 | 76 |
| 15 | Hülkenberg | Haas F1 Team | 1:33.329 | +3.024 | 77 |
| 16 | Piastri | McLaren F1 Team | 1:33.655 | +3.350 | 44 |
| 17 | De Vries | Scuderia AlphaTauri | 1:38.244 | +7.939 | 87 |
