Alonso fastest as F1 Bahrain GP begins
TDT | Manama
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Two-time F1 world champion Fernando Alonso set the fastest time of the day in Formula 1 action last night at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.
The Aston Martin ace shone brightest under lights in the second practice session of the F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2023, kicking off this year’s FIA F1 World Championship at “The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East”.
Alonso, winner of the Bahrain Grand Prix three times, was second quickest in the opening practice held during the day yesterday, but in the follow-up session went one better, going for an ultra-quick lap time of one minute 30.907 seconds— faster than the 1:32.758 set by Red Bull’s Sergio Perez from the first practice.
“It felt good to drive the car today and it is nice to see both cars high up on the timing sheets especially after only three days of testing,” said Alonso last night.
“The team is working together well, and we are still learning a lot about the new car. I think it will not be clear who is on top until after this weekend and probably into the first couple of races at different tracks. For now, we are just concentrating on ourselves and trying to find the right balance with the car.
“There are a few things we need to evaluate overnight and we will prepare as best we can for the first qualifying session of the season tomorrow. We have our feet on the ground, and we are realistic with our expectations heading into tomorrow.”
Reigning double world champion Max Verstappen followed on the times 0.169 seconds behind, while Perez was classified third 0.171s back. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fourth on the classification 0.460s off Alonso’s pace, while the returning Nico Hulkenberg put Haas in fifth with a 0.469s gap from the top.
Lance Stroll impressed despite his recent injury woes to go sixth for Aston Martin 0.543s behind, while Pierre Gasly of Alpine came seventh 0.568s back and Lewis Hamilton was eighth 0.636s from first place. Lando Norris (+0.663s) of McLaren and Zhou Guanyu (+0.679s) of Alfa Romeo rounded off the top 10 finishers.
Completing the second practice classification were Esteban Ocon of Alpine, Valtteri Bottas of Alfa Romeo, George Russell of Mercedes, Carlos Sainz of Ferrari, Oscar Piastri of McLaren, Kevin Magnussen of Haas, Alexander Albon of Williams, Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries of AlphaTauri, and Logan Sargeant of Williams.
F1 will be holding a third hour-long practice today from 2.30pm. The first qualifying of the new F1 season then follows from 6pm, setting the grid for Sunday’s 57-lap grand prix. In yesterday’s first practice session, Perez was quickest.
The Sakhir Grand Prix winner in 2020 was 0.438s ahead of Alonso, who is in his first grand prix weekend with Aston Martin. Verstappen was third 0.617s back in third while Norris followed in fourth 1.407s from Perez, and Leclerc was fifth 1.499s adrift.
The top 10 in the session classification was completed by Stroll (+1.540s), Magnussen (+1.644s), Zhou (+1.817s), Bottas (+1.931s), and Hamilton (+2.159s). Eleventh through 20th, respectively, were Russell, Piastri, Tsunoda, Hulkenberg, Ocon, de Vries, Gasly, Sargeant, Albon and Sainz.
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