F1
Bahrain F1 tests – Leclerc passes second during the morning
Charles Leclerc set the best time in these pre-season tests. © DPPI
The pace picks up on this final day of pre-season testing on the Sakhir track in Bahrain. Little seen until now, the soft tires were released by different teams this Saturday morning. This allowed certain pilots like Charles Leclerc to raise the tone and set slightly more significant times one week before the first Grand Prix of the 2023 season on the same circuit.
It was first George Russell who set the pace in this morning session with a fast first lap in 1'31″707 making him the first driver under the 1'32 mark. After further improvements by the Englishman at the wheel of the Mercedes W14, Charles Leclerc responded with a first pass in 1'31"164 before settling into first place for good with a time in 1'31"024. Enough to relegate his British friend to just over 4 tenths and no longer be caught.
Problems at Alfa Romeo and McLaren
The second part of these 4h15 of driving was used to work on the long relays. Few improved their mark since all the drivers completed the laps at racing pace.
While the positions were practically fixed, the last two hours were finally marked by concerns aboutAlfa Romeo and those with repetition of McLaren. As he racked up the tricks, Valtteri Bottas was forced to stop his C43 in the second sector after apparently encountering a problem with the gearbox. Italian mechanics work on the car to try to get her back on track as quickly as possible this afternoon.
🚩RED FLAGS 🚩
Valtteri Bottas has stopped out on track 😫#F1 #F1Testing pic.twitter.com/AYITPsjJks
— Formula 1 (@F1) February 25, 2023
For its part, Oscar piastri barely passed the 40 lap threshold. With the MCL60 still suffering with its front brakes, the Australian spent a lot of time in the garage as during the first two days, thus losing a great opportunity to acclimatize before his F1 debut next weekend.
See you at 13:00 p.m. (French time) for the last session of these pre-season tests. You can follow it via the live text from AUTOhebdo.
ALSO READ > McLaren already lagging behind
Gonzalo Forbes
In charge of promotion formulas (F2, F3, FRECA, F4...). Carried by the grace of Franco Colapinto.
Read also
Comments
*The space reserved for logged in users. Please connect to be able to respond or post a comment!
0 Comment (s)
To write a comment
0 View comments)