The opening weekend of the longest season in Method 1 historical past noticed Mercedes write the primary headline.
The Toto Wolff-run crew had each its drivers on the high of the time sheet come the top of the second free follow session, the one that’s most related because it was held in comparable situations to these present in tomorrow’s qualifying and Saturday’s race. Quickest was Lewis Hamilton (1:30.374) whereas team-mate George Russell was simply 206 thousandths of a second slower. Behind the Mercedes duo got here 5 drivers from 5 totally different groups within the following order: Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), Oscar Piastri (McLaren), Max Verstappen (Purple Bull) and Nico Hulkenberg (Haas), all inside 286 thousandths, the German’s time 510 thousandths slower than Hamilton’s.
Fairly sturdy winds had been the order of the day, in addition to a lot cooler temperatures than normal for the Bahrain Grand Prix and to a lesser extent to these skilled eventually week’s check, with the mercury dropping beneath 20° for air temperature in FP2. It ought to be famous that this occasion is happening a bit earlier within the 12 months than normal. Hamilton’s time was just below six tenths sooner than the perfect FP2 time from final 12 months, when Alonso posted a 1:30.907 and 666 thousandths off the 2023 pole time set by Verstappen.
A technique or one other, all three dry tyre compounds chosen for this Grand Prix got here into play over the course of the 2 free follow classes. The alternatives had been break up between the C2 and the C3, the previous used essentially the most in FP1 and the latter in FP2. Nobody ran the C1, clear proof that groups wish to maintain one or each units for the race. That state of affairs performed out on this monitor final 12 months and would appear to be believable, after final week’s check session.
Simone Berra, Chief Engineer: “A really fascinating day, as a result of we acquired our first indications of the hierarchy down the pit lane, even when one has to have in mind the same old unknown components equivalent to how a lot gasoline the automobiles had on board and the way the facility unit was used. We noticed the groups make virtually equivalent decisions by way of tyre utilization, with a desire for the C2 within the first session and the C3 within the second, when monitor situations had been much like these we are able to anticipate for the race, whereas the 2 units of C1 have been saved for the remainder of the weekend. The lengthy runs in FP2 had been virtually all finished on the C3 and demonstrated that even the softest compound might be aggressive over a protracted stint. As for the C2, we already noticed in testing that the distinction in efficiency in comparison with the C1 is just not so huge, however the hardest compound ensures higher consistency and is subsequently the popular alternative for the race.”
Take a look at our Thursday gallery from Bahrain right here.