Carlos Sainz completes 69 laps in afternoon session of Day 1 | 2024 F1 Bahrain testing. Carlos Sainz completed 69 laps in afternoon session of the first day of F1 Bahrain testing.

The first day of activities at the Sakhir track has concluded. Let’s take a look at the final standings for Day 1 of the 2024 Bahrain tests.

The activity for this first day ended at 5:00 PM Central European Standard Time. The cars were on the track for about 8 hours, with the teams managing to complete a significant portion of their planned work. With the checkered flag waving at the end of the session, let’s go through the final standings for Day 1 of the 2024 Bahrain tests.

In the first position, there are no surprises; Verstappen starts the year as the favorite for 2024. He set the best time of the day and covered the longest distance in the eight hours of this Day 1. Following McLaren with Lando Norris, who finished the first day just over a second behind Max Verstappen’s RB20. Closing this podium is Carlos Sainz at the wheel of the Ferrari SF-24, as the Spaniard completed 69 laps in his first outing at the Sakhir circuit. The times of the three drivers were all recorded in the afternoon session, where the air and track temperature conditions were much more favorable.

The afternoon program of the Scuderia Ferrari team was divided into two phases: in the first part, there were relatively short runs with various setup tests, while as the sun began to set, the Italian side started doing longer stints, consisting of around ten laps each and always using the C3 compound, which is the most flexible one.

The surprise of the session is obviously the Racing Bulls team, which, with Daniel Ricciardo, positioned itself in fourth place behind Carlos Sainz. The time recorded by the Australian is only a few thousandths off the time of the Spanish driver. Following is Lance Stroll at the wheel of the AMR24, stopping the stopwatch just beyond the 1:33 threshold. The times displayed on the timing screen were all recorded with the C3 tire, the Soft compound that we will see next week during the first race weekend.

With a time of 1:33.247, we find Charles Leclerc, who drove the SF-24 in the morning session, reporting good impressions about the Maranello team’s single seater for the upcoming season. The notable absentees on this Day 1 are Lewis Hamilton and Checo Perez, who handed over the wheel to their respective teammates for this first day of collective on-track activities. Speaking of activities at Mercedes, it’s worth noting the significant number of laps covered by George Russell at the wheel of the W15. Fundamental work to get to know the new mechanics and the new car thoroughly.

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Noteworthy are the two Haas cars that occupy the bottom of the standings: Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg, despite a small issue with the fuel pump in the morning, were among the most active on the track. As the team had already announced, the test’s focus would primarily be on understanding the presence of any degradation issues, and it is precisely from this perspective that one can appreciate the numerous long runs completed by the two representatives of the American team.

Afternoon session final timesheet