The best tech pictures from Bahrain…
… we have put together for you in this photo series. Click through quickly, the action will start on the track in less than ten minutes!
Speaking of Hulkenberg…
In recent years he was still in the Aston Martin with a Mercedes engine. Now he drives for Haas and thus with Ferrari power. “The steering wheel is still getting used to it a bit,” he admits, because the different power units are operated differently.
“It will also take a few more races, because it’s completely different, different descriptions at Haas with the Ferrari power unit, different button arrangements. But that’s the typical adjustment period that you need when you’re new to the team,” like Hulkenberg.
When asked if he’s already slipped away, he replies with a laugh: “Yes, yes, a few times. But nothing has exploded yet…”
Why the times are not comparable
This has not only to do with the engine setting and the amount of fuel. Nico Hülkenberg explains: “There are differences [zwischen Vor- und Nachmittag]. Above all, the temperature fluctuates. The late session is at three o’clock [Ortszeit] los.”
“It’s still quite hot there. And then after five it cools down quite rapidly,” he reports. That means the track will be faster. And of course there are the tyres. Hulkenberg himself clocked his time for P5 yesterday, for example, on the softer C4 tires.
He explains that this is “perhaps four or five tenths” faster than the C3 on which Verstappen and Co. each drove their fastest lap. Meanwhile, Zhou even drove his best time of the day on the even softer C5 tires.
So if you take all the factors like engine, fuel, tires and route together, then the differences can easily add up to several seconds.
Kevin alone at Alpine
Do you remember “Home Alone”? We reinterpreted the 1990s classic with “our Kevin” Scheuren. But instead of leaving Kevin at home, we sent him to London to shake up the launch of the Alpine A523.
The 25-minute video is now available in full length on the Formel1.de YouTube channel. Free for all users. Our channel members have been able to see it for a few days already. In the preliminary period, by the way, still without . Become a channel member now!
What’s it like backstage with a Formula 1 team?
Following in the footsteps of “Home Alone”, Kevin Scheuren mingled with celebrities from Zidane to Szafnauer at the launch of the Alpine A523 in London. More Formula 1 videos
times
Yes, we keep emphasizing that the times in the tests are not worth much. Nevertheless, we can already say that Formula 1 is faster at this point than it was a year ago.
Yesterday Zhou drove a 1:31.610, Verstappen’s best test time in 2022 was “only” 1:31.720. Not only did Zhou on the soft C5 tires undercut this mark yesterday, but also Verstappen himself (1:31.650 on C3).
The more exciting question today is whether we might even be able to match Leclerc’s pole time from last year. The Monegasque drove a 1:30.558 at the Grand Prix.
The drivers would have to find more than a second for that today. Rather unlikely, because probably nobody wants to reveal their cards completely on the last day of the test.
In other words, the engines are almost certainly not cranked up to the limit even today. But let’s wait and see.
Analyse
You missed yesterday’s test day and didn’t notice anything about the Mercedes problems and the like? No problem! In this video, Kevin Scheuren and Christian Nimmervoll analyze Friday in the desert for you.
Even today, the two will meet again twice on the Formel1.de YouTube channel report to you. First with a small midday update at 11:45 a.m., then again in the evening with a large analysis at 7:30 p.m.
Day 2 Bahrain: Red Bull dominates & Alfa fact
How much is Guanyu Zhou’s best time really worth? Or rather: how little? We analyze that as well as the superiority of Red Bull. More Formula 1 videos
Mercedes initiates investigation after day 2
After the second day of testing in Bahrain, the alarm was raised at Mercedes. George Russell rolled out one and a half hours before the end of the day due to a hydraulic problem and was then unable to go out on the track again.
“We didn’t have a strong second day today,” says Andrew Shovlin, explaining: “Staying on track because of a reliability issue wasn’t good and we struggled to find a balanced vehicle balance in the changeable conditions.”
As recently as Friday evening, Mercedes launched “an investigation to find out why it was such a challenge today.” You can find all the background information here!
Tag 3/3
Hello and welcome to a new edition of our Formula 1 news ticker. It can go so fast, today is already the third and last day of the 2023 winter tests in Bahrain.
Driving is again from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. our time, including a lunch break from 12:15 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. As usual, you won’t miss a best time, a red flag or an incident here in the ticker!
Ruben Zimmermann accompanies you at this point again through the test day. If you have any questions, suggestions or complaints, you can use our contact form. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, and if you have any questions, you can also use our Twitter hashtag #FragMST. Here we go!
Here you can read our ticker from yesterday!