Now that the presentation phase is over, it's time to test the cars, which are not always the same as those presented on social media, on a real track and not on the internet.
And that's what the Sakhir circuit, which hosts the Bahrain GP in two weeks' time, is for.
So let's take a look at a day-by-day summary of the three days dedicated to the first official Formula 1 tests of the 2023 season.
BAHRAIN TEST DAY 1: Max Verstappen set the pace during the first morning of pre-season testing in Bahrain.
Max Verstappen topped the timesheets in the first pre-season F1 2023 Bahrain practice session.
The Red Bull driver set the pace with a lap of 1:32.959, as well as completing 71 laps during the morning.
Carlos Sainz was 0.294 seconds behind in P2, while Alex Albon set the third fastest time.
A second session will take place in Bahrain at 12:15 GMT as part of the three-day test.
See the morning results below.
BAHRAIN TEST DAY 2: SAINZ FASTEST IN MORNING, SURPRISE FOR WILLIAMS
The morning session of the second day of official Formula 1 pre-season testing at Sakhir ahead of the 2023 World Championship has ended with Carlos Sainz setting the fastest time of all in the extreme heat of the Bahraini desert. Ferrari ahead therefore in 1'32″486 at least as far as the dry lap was concerned, but some teams did not go in search of pure performance.
In fact, the early hours of day 2 saw plenty of race simulations with high fuel loads on board, with the only exception probably being Williams, who concentrated on timed attacks with all available Pirelli compounds. American rookie Logan Sargeant took advantage of this to move up to second place just 63 thousandths off the lead, proving however to be the only one to set the fastest time on soft tyres (C5) which were decidedly better performing than the competition (almost everyone else was on C3).
Encouraging signs for Aston Martin with third place at 483 thousandths of a second behind leader Fernando Alonso, who was also quite competitive in long runs, ahead of Guanyu Zhou's Alfa Romeo (4th at 0.684), Kevin Magnussen's Haas (5th at 0.956) and Esteban Ocon's Alpine (6th at 1.004). Further back, in seventh position at 1″265 behind the leader, is the Red Bull of Sergio Pérez, who nevertheless impressed with his consistency of performance and tyre management (mainly C2 and C1) on the long run pace.
Bahrain Grand Prix: opening race times and tv Bahrain Grand Prix: opening race times and tv
Mercedes in apparent trouble, with obvious balance issues with the W14 at least at high temperatures and Lewis Hamilton 8th, 1.468 off Sainz's best time, also showing a sudden collapse in rear tyre performance after a few laps of race simulation. Some progress in this respect compared to yesterday for Ferrari, who seem to have solved yesterday afternoon's porpoising problem by finding more convincing long runs.
QUALIFYING MORNING SESSION DAY 2 SAKHIR TEST 2023
1 Carlos SAINZ Ferrari1:32.486 70
2 Logan SARGEANT Williams+0.063 74
3 Fernando ALONSO Aston Martin+0.483 64
4 Guanyu ZHOU Alfa Romeo+0.684 43
5 Kevin MAGNUSSEN Haas F1 Team+0.956 67
6 Esteban OCON Alpine+1.004 49
7 Sergio PEREZ Red Bull Racing+1.265 76
8 Lewis HAMILTON Mercedes+1.468 72
9 Lando NORRIS McLaren+3.036 65
10 Yuki TSUNODA AlphaTauri+3.222 85
BAHRAIN TEST DAY 3: PEREZ LEADS WITH RED BULL, SECOND HAMILTON IN MERCEDES, FERRARI WITH LECLERC AND SAINZ IN TOP5
At the end of the third day of testing in Bahrain, the fastest car is confirmed as the new Red Bull. After the best time in the morning, the Ferrari finished fourth with Charles Leclerc and fifth with Carlos Sainz, respectively 719 and 731 thousandths of a second off the leader with the same compound as Pérez's RB19. Second is Hamilton's Mercedes.
Red Bull has made a splash in the final phase of the three-day test at Sakhir, finishing ahead of everyone else on the third day of official pre-season testing ahead of the 2023 Formula One World Championship. Sergio Pérez set the fastest time today of 1'30″305 on C4 tyres, demonstrating the strength of the RB19 on the dry lap in the qualifying simulation, as well as remarkable tyre management in the long runs.
The Mexican was 359 thousandths quicker than Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes with one compound down, as the seven times world champion (with great difficulties in the race simulation after a few laps on rear tyres) tried the time-attack with the softest compound of the Pirelli range. The same goes for the Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas, 3rd at 522 thousandths of a second off the lead after losing about three hours on track due to a mechanical failure probably related to the Ferrari power unit.
Small wake-up call on the reliability front for the men in red, if the problem with the Emilian power unit is confirmed. Scuderia di Maranello did not go in search of pure performance, running against the clock on C4 tyres and finishing fourth with Charles Leclerc and fifth with Carlos Sainz, respectively 719 and 731 thousandths of a second off the lead on the same compound as Perez's RB19.
Ferrari focused as usual mainly on race pace with a full tank, confirming some issues with the soft tyres but making a good impression with the harder compounds that will be used next Sunday during the Grand Prix. Extremely positive signs in this regard for Aston Martin, with Fernando Alonso "only" 9th in the standings 1″145 behind the leader but author of three really encouraging long runs in terms of speed and above all consistency of performance over the long distance.
STANDINGS DAY-3 SAKHIR F1 TEST 2023
1 Sergio PEREZ Red Bull Racing1:30.305 130
2 Lewis HAMILTON Mercedes+0.359 61
3 Valtteri BOTTAS Alfa Romeo+0.522 127
4 Charles LECLERC Ferrari+0.719 67
5 Carlos SAINZ Ferrari+0.731 75
6 Yuki TSUNODA AlphaTauri+0.956 76
7 Kevin MAGNUSSEN Haas F1 Team+1.076 94
8 George RUSSELL Mercedes+1.137 83
9 Fernando ALONSO Aston Martin+1.145 77
10 Felipe DRUGOVICH Aston Martin+1.770 77
11 Lando NORRIS McLaren+1.855 34
12 Pierre GASLY Alpine+2.457 56
13 Alexander ALBON Williams+2.488 136
14 Esteban OCON Alpine+2.952 72
15 Nico HULKENBERG Haas F1 Team+3.024 77
16 Oscar PIASTRI McLaren+3.350 44
17 Nyck DE VRIES AlphaTauri+7.939 87
Source images: Formula 1
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