As is the case always, the first day of Formula 1 pre-season testing is very difficult to evaluate. The teams are usually focused on the mechanical setup options, even on trying extreme ones, not to mention the electronics and power. From the GPS data it has been seen that Scuderia Ferrari and Red Bull have had two rather different approaches to their first day of testing at the Bahrain International Circuit: Max Verstappen ran more with less fuel, while the Ferrari SF-23s only used slightly more power when they had more weight on board.
We are still far from having a complete picture of the performance hierarchy on track. Fernando Alonso stood out – the Spanish driver will driver the entire day on Friday as the team is waiting for more news on Lance Stroll’s condition – thanks to his great feeling with the AMR23. Alonso is a champion when it comes to quickly adapting; he set an interesting time on the C3 tyres, as well as showing good speed on the straights.
The medium (yellow) Pirelli tyres were by far the best compound of the day and, among other things, they will be the softest tire for the Bahrain race weekend.
2023 cars with lighter rear but no less fast than last year.
It’s not the day to sum up and estimate the margins of improvement for these cars in the upcoming Formula 1 campaign, the limits of which are still new for all drivers. The aerodynamic limitations don’t seem to have slowed down the performance, as anticipated in the past weeks. However, it will be necessary to find the ideal balance to show this and it may not be a very easy task, as pointed out by Giuliano Duchessa for formu1a.uno.
The tendency was to see many cars with a light rear, which were unable to complete the rotation correctly, especially between the central and final part of the corner. Ferrari also had its work cut out, especially with Charles Leclerc. A job that the Maranello team still believe to be regular, without major problems. In the leaning corners the SF-23 car clearly suffered from bouncing, however some settings in terms of heights and mechanics were experimental. In the factory back in Maranello and on the track, the Ferrari technicians didn’t appear worried as some on board footage might have suggested, but Max Verstappen certainly seemed very solid already.
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The Maranello team should also have a new floor available for the test on Friday, demonstrating that the Ferrari SF-23 will begin to change rapidly. It should be noted that today the SF-23 had a small problem with the DRS device, which forced the mechanics to change the rear wing during the afternoon session on the SF-23 of Charles Leclerc. It was a very efficient medium load specification at closed Drs, unusually unloaded for a circuit like Sakhir. Indeed, if we had to bet, we could say that next week we will not only see just this specific rear wing.
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