The data the teams get during a winter test is very useful for the teams to make sure there is a good base for the season. For outsiders it is always difficult to find the right data, because many factors are still unclear. Are all teams running on the same engine mode and is there the same amount of fuel in everything? Despite these questions there is enough to look at, also because of Bahrain as a test location.
Compared to Barcelona Bahrain has more points where an F1-car reaches its top speed. The desert circuit is almost three quarters full throttle and with a lot of straights the top speed is already more visible. German automobile magazine ‘Auto, Motor und Sport’ has made a stand of top speeds during the test days and it is striking that Mercedes is occupying the bottom three places.
Honda fastest, Mercedes lags behind
On top is AlphaTauri with their Honda engine, followed by Ferrari and Alfa Romeo. Next is Williams, who are the only Mercedes team that has scored reasonably well with their top speed. Red Bull Racing haven’t shown the back of their hand yet either, as their top speed is almost seven kilometres per hour lower than that of AlphaTauri.
While AMuS don’t want to say too much about the gap between Red Bull and Mercedes, they do see that the reigning world champions haven’t had an easy time of it. “Verstappen did not have a flawless lap and drove on a harder tyre than Hamilton. That also made a difference of three tenths. This brings the difference to 1.4 seconds between the two. To compensate for this with fuel, they would have had to bring 30 kilos more, you can’t really assume that.”
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