Preparations for the 2024 season are in full
swing as teams hit the Sakhir International circuit for the first day of
pre-season testing.
It won’t come as a major surprise that Max
Verstappen set the quickest time, nearly one second clear of the rest of the
field. But. Pre-season testing isn’t about grabbing headline times but rather
about finding a car’s strengths and weaknesses, its consistency, and its prime
operating window in terms of setup.
Reliability and stress-testing also forms a
major part as the newly built cars hit the track, in anger, for the first time.
There were too many technical or mechanical problems for any of the teams
throughout the days the running. Only Haas spent time in the garage to rectify
the fuel system of their car. Otherwise, Alex Albon’s Williams ground to halt
in turn two and pushed behind the barriers. Albon also completed the fewest
laps of the day, setting only 40 for the day. George Russell was only slightly
better with 48 laps on the board.
Fernando Alonso, who ended the day third
quickest in the Aston Martin, set a total of 77 laps. Valtteri Bottas said
after the day’s running that he felt a definite improvement in the new car, and
it was reflected in his 68 laps of running. Sidenote: Thanks to a new title
sponsor this team, formerly known as Alfa Romeo, is now known as Kick Sauber
and now sports a quite nifty looking lumo green and black livery.
The three days of testing in Bahrain will run
to 23 February as teams ready themselves for the first race of the season, also
in Bahrain, over the weekend of 29 February to 02 March.
