Verstappen fastest as Bahrain F1 tests wrap up
TDT | Manama
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Reigning drivers’ world champion Max Verstappen set the track alight yesterday evening with a blistering fastest lap that put Red Bull Racing on top of the timesheet on the final day of Formula 1 Aramco Pre-Season Testing 2022 at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.
Verstappen’s best time of one minute 31.720 seconds came late in the afternoon session under BIC’s bright floodlights.
His ultra-quick lap was the fastest from all three days of testing this weekend at “The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East”, and it set the stage for plenty more to look forward to as the top flight heads into race week with the season-opening F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix just days away.
Following the day’s running, Verstappen commented: “The main focus today was testing the tyres we are going to use next week.
The car felt alright and we completed the programme we set out to do, so that’s always positive.
“No one gives full beans or goes to qualifying spec at testing, so we can’t read too much into the timing screens.
“The new parts we tested today worked well, which is what we always hope for.”
The upcoming Grand Prix is set to be a once-in-a-generation event, ushering in “A New Era” in F1 following the introduction of sweeping new regulations and the huge design evolution of the F1 cars.
Fans in the Kingdom have the privilege of being the first in the world this 18 to 20 March to experience the pinnacle of motorsport in a whole new light.
With the Bahrain Grand Prix being a night event, qualifying and the 57- lap race are scheduled for 6 pm starts.
Yesterday evening’s tests over the last hour gave the F1 teams a preview of the conditions at that time of day, which would be crucial for their preparations for next week’s wheel-to-wheel battles.
It was during this period that Verstappen had the day’s quickest time behind the wheel of Red Bull’s RB18 car.
He completed a total of 53 laps in the afternoon session and was the only driver to go below the 1:32.000 mark all weekend.
Impressive
Charles Leclerc continued the impressive pre-season form of Ferrari as he finished behind Verstappen on the timesheet in his F1-75 challenger.
Leclerc posted the fastest time of 1:32.415, which was also clocked in the cooler afternoon runs while completing 51 laps.
Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso of Alpine was classified third with a best lap of 1:32.698 in his A522 car.
Alonso was the second-busiest man of the day, putting in 122 laps of work having tested the full day for Alpine.
George Russell in the F1 W13 of constructors’ world champions Mercedes came fourth with a top lap of 1:32.759 and 71 laps completed.
Valtteri Bottas in Alfa Romeo’s C42 came fifth in 1:32.985 with 68 total laps, while Yuki Tsunoda was sixth-fastest for AlphaTauri with a time of 1:33.002 and 57 laps in his AT03 challenger.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was seventh overall on the timesheet with a fastest lap of 1:33.105.
That was the top mark in yesterday’s morning session when he was out on track for 43 laps.
Mick Schumacher in his Haas VF-22 was eighth with a best lap of 1:33.151 with 57 completed laps, while rounding off the top 10 overall for the day were Lando Norris of McLaren and Sebastian Vettel of Aston Martin. Norris’s best time of 1:33.191 came over 90 laps as he once again drove the full day in McLaren’s MCL36, while Vettel had the fastest lap of 1:33.821 in 81 laps in the AMR22.
A total of 18 drivers took to BIC’s 5.412-kilometre Grand Prix track for yesterday’s final day of testing.
Classified 11th through 18th, respectively, were rookie Guanyu Zhou (1:33.959) in the other Alfa Romeo, day one leader Pierre Gasly (1:34.865) in the second AlphaTauri, day two pace-setter Carlos Sainz (1:34.905) for Ferrari, Williams drivers Alexander Albon (1:35.171) and Nicholas Latifi (1:35.634), Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll (1:36.029), seven-time drivers’ world champion Lewis Hamilton (1:36.217) for Mercedes, and the returning Kevin Magnussen (1:38.616) for Haas.
Latifi had the most laps registered on the final day of 124.
Haas started yesterday’s run early, with Magnussen going out on track a full hour before the rest of the field.
The team were granted that time to make up for what they lost on the first day of testing following delays in the arrival of their freight, which was out of their control.
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