Ahead of the first race of 2024, the Bahrain International Circuit was the venue for pre-season testing. Who was on the pace? Who was the reliable? And who needs to do some work before the opening race? We look back over the three-days in Sakhir as this year’s Formula 1 track action got underway.
On Wednesday morning, Feb. 21, the first car to emerge from its garage to get 2024 started was the Mercedes of George Russell, and he had the honor of being first on track when the pit lane opened to officially start pre-season.
But it didn’t take long for reigning world champion Max Verstappen to take his new RB20 to the top of the timesheets. In the afternoon session the Dutchman lapped the Bahrain circuit in 1m31.344s, which was over 1.1 seconds clear of his nearest rival, McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Verstappen completed more laps of Sakhir than any other driver on Day 1, with 143 laps in total. That first day was less reliable for Williams, as Alex Albon drove the fewest laps of the morning when he stopped on track with a fuel pump issue. His team-mate Logan Sargeant then escaped hitting the barriers after a high-speed spin at Turn 9, before a suspected driveshaft issue brought him back to the pits.
The second day of running was brought to a premature halt with a red flag just two hours and twenty minutes into the session. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc had dislodged a drain cover on the outside of the curb along the back straight, which was then run over by Lewis Hamilton. A track inspection followed and after a delay of 40 minutes the decision was taken to end the morning session early and extend the afternoon’s running by an hour.
With a replacement floor fitted to the Ferrari, Leclerc made way for team-mate Sainz and it was the Spaniard that finished the day with the fastest lap of the week. His time came just prior to sunset with a run on the softer Pirelli compound tires. Sainz stopped the clocks on 1m29.921s which was 0.758s faster than Sergio Pérez’s Red Bull.
Hamilton completed 123 laps to set the third fastest time, ahead of compatriot Lando Norris. The McLaren driver was driving in the test wearing a helmet in tribute to the team’s former Sporting Director, Gil de Ferran, who passed away in December.
Less than half an hour into the final day of pre-season and the red flag appeared once more for an issue with another drain cover coming loose. On this occasion, Pérez had dislodged the drain and was fortunate to not pick up any damage.
The session was halted for 77 minutes while checks were made around the rest of the Bahrain International Circuit. There was a brief yellow flag when the wheel brow over the top of the right-front of Pierre Gasly’s Alpine broke off and landed on the track. That didn’t impact the fastest driver on the final day, which was Charles Leclerc who set a 1m30.322 lap on the softest C5 compound Pirelli.
Late in the day Russell attempted to eclipse that pace, but the Mercedes man fell short by just 0.046 seconds. With times set over the three days on differing fuel loads and tire compounds, it was difficult to gauge who had done the best job, but the chatter in the paddock was that Red Bull will once again start the season as favorites with Ferrari close behind.
