The wait is over. This Thursday, at Sakhir Circuitin Bahrainthe first day of the pre-season tests of Formula 1, which will have just three days of testing ending this Saturday. Apart from the 100 kilometers each team is allowed to carry out a day of filming with the new single-seaters, these three days (with hours from 8:00 am to 12:15 pm and from 1: 15 pm to 5:30 pm ) is the only available 10 grid sets of ‘Great Circus’ to test their cars for the first race of the season, which will take place from March 3 to 5.
These are three important days for everyone, where drivers must adapt to their cars, collect a lot of data for engineers to work on developing cars, understand how to find the best way to find correct settings and, if they appear, detect possible failures as soon as possible to eliminate them before the first GP of the year. It’s a lot of work for everyone in a test where the first goal for any group is to confirm the reliability of its engine and its vehicle and collect the largest possible amount of data to verify its relationship with what already exists they are from wind tunnel and simulations.
The main objective is to complete the maximum number of laps, each keeping their performance to their own set work schedule. Timing isn’t the most important thing and everyone is going to try to play, so it’s important to focus on things other than just lap times.
Sainz, Thursday morning; Alonso, Thursday afternoon
That is what they will try to do Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)which will start this Thursday on the asphalt of sakhir. The first to do so will be Carlos, who will drive his Ferrari SF23 this Thursday and tomorrow in the morning sessions (his teammate Leclerc will do so in the afternoon) and on the final day on Saturday Charles will drive in the morning and Sainz will do it in the afternoon.
For his part, to see Fernando Alonso on track with his new one Aston Martin AMR23 we have to wait for the afternoon session on Thursday. FElipe Drugovichreserve of Aston Martin and current champion of Formula 2, will replace Oviedo these days in place of the injured take a walk. The 22-year-old Brazilian will start work in the morning session this Thursday and Fernando Alonso will drive in the afternoon (1:15 pm), although the track order of both drivers is unknown for the remaining days.
Expectations for Red Bull and Mercedes
This Thursday, the teams will start to remove the doubts, show their cars on the track and the first real aerodynamic elements that they bet on after showing their single-seaters in real form or through 3D designs. In this sense, there is a special hope to see the true design of Red Bull RB19, as it was the only one of the favorite teams to show its decoration only on a model that had nothing to do with its car this Thursday. The champion team already surprised last year by showing some surprising sidepods in the tests and it remains to be seen if this time they stand out again for some new details.
There are also many doubts about Mercedes. The Brackley team is presenting a car that continues the same concept that gave it so much trouble last year. This time, they do it by making sure they understand their setbacks and look forward to their massive progress shown last year, reaching the end of the season to achieve the double in Brazil and showing tremendous racing speed. Now, Mercedes must show that it has overcome its high-speed rebound problems and its poor air resistance, which prevented it from being fast on the straight. Mercedes has a lot to prove.
Ferrari, a lot of confidence
For its part, much is expected from Ferrari after the confidence shown by the Italians in the massive reliability improvements achieved in its engine, something a source in MD pointed out that Ferrari’s engine is “a bomb”. And not only that, Ferrari has perfected its excellent base since last year to reduce its air resistance with open DRS and especially to improve tire wear in the long run. The Italian team should start to confirm their feelings on the track.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
