Pre-season testing F1

Finally! We are back pre-season testing started this weekend in Sakhir,Bahrain. Heres a little overview of how the weekend went…

Day 1- It seems Daniel Ricciardo settled into McLaren very quickly, he set the fastest time of a 1:32.203 in the morning session and showed the others how the McLaren can do. He was swiftly followed by Pierre Gasly who set a 1:32.231 and who also had the most laps out of the 10 drivers. However it wasn’t so plain sailing for the Mercedes, after the pit lane opened Bottas was back in the garage after 45 minutes and only 1 lap done, they had to replace the gearbox but he managed to get back out with 40 minutes to go and went 10th fastest. The first red flag was called for the 2021 season and that was due to Charles Leclerc as he suffered a possible power unit issue.

Onto the afternoon session and the drivers were met with a sandstorm, however that didn’t stop any of them! Verstappen drove for Red Bull all day and looked very comfortable after the morning session, he topped the timesheets with a 1:30.674. Verstappen was followed by Lando Norris he managed to put in a 1:30.889, so it seems a very consistent day for the two McLaren boys. As for Mercedes, Lewis managed to add 42 laps to their total however he was struggling for grip and pace too…

Day 2-

Another session of Ricciardo back on top he clocked a 1:32.215! He really has settled in to the team quickly and its so nice to see☺️. There was quite a few spins during the morning session which included a red flag and that was brought out by 7 time world champion Lewis, he spun and went into the gravel leaving himself stuck. However once things got started again returning 2 times world champion Fernando Alonso came out second with a 1:32.339, followed him was Perez with a 1:32.478. It looks like Aston Martin are not doing too good, Vettel only managed six laps before a gearbox issue…

Now onto the afternoon, Bottas went fastest overall with a 1:30.289 and it was good to see the Mercedes back on top😌. Pierre Gasly followed close behind with a 1:30.413. However Lance Stroll finished 3rd overall even though his team mate finished at the bottom of the time sheet.

Day 3-

Onto the final day of testing… and Perez was on fire he topped the leader board for the morning session with a 1:30.187 and was swiftly followed by Leclerc who had a 1:30.486 and then to finish the top three was Lando Norris with a 1:30.661. The McLarens have had a pre-season testing with no issues at all over the weekend! Finally, we get to see George Russell back on track! It was his first outing over the testing weekend and he kept it steady throughout his first session and finished P8 overall…

It was a good day and weekend for the Red Bulls! Verstappen topped the charts for the final session of the weekend with a 1:28.960. Followed him was rookie Yuki Tsunoda he finished with a 1:29.053, I have got to say i’m impressed! He has got the swing of things so quick, definitely think he is one to watch out for this season 👀 Sainz finished the top three for this afternoon with a 1:29.611, at the end of the session he had a brief moment with Raikkonen after they both touched and gone off the track… Hamilton finished 5th overall after he lost valuable time in the first hour of the session. And finally Russell finished 6th overall with a 157 laps behind him!

And that is a wrap on pre-season testing! Two weeks to go till we are back in Bahrain 🤩. Will Mercedes be able to pull through? Can the Red Bulls keep it up and bring the fight, or have they peaked too early?