Teams’ reaction after the three-day pre-season testing

With the sole three-day pre-season testing performed and dusted, groups and drivers at the moment are absolutely targeting analysing the knowledge they’ve gathered over the course of the quick operating in Bahrain. F1Technical’s senior author Balázs Szabó delivers the reaction from the ten groups.

Ferrari

Ferrari have closely revised their 2024 F1 automobile, albeit their SF-24 doesn’t characteristic any evident technical innovation except for the bridge that connects the halo with the chassis of the automobile. However, the Scuderia seem to have made a strong job over the winter, and so they would possibly carry over their late 2023 type which might cement their standing as a contender for pole positions on sure tracks. The new automobile is clearly a step ahead when it comes to wind sensitivity which has offered the drivers with a way more steady and dependable platform to work with.

Moreover and extra importantly, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc carried out a race simulation on Thursday and Friday respectively which clearly indicated that the new SF-24 seems after the tyres far more than its predecessor which might imply that the Scuderia’s single-lap and future efficiency might converge in 2024.

“Charles Leclerc: We’ve wrapped up our third day of testing, having put in a strong variety of laps and accomplished lots of totally different assessments, which is optimistic.

“The car is reacting the way that we wanted it to, but it is still difficult to assess its level of competitiveness right now. The feeling is better than the base we started from last year. Now, it’s full focus on the race and I can’t wait to be back on track next week.”

Carlos Sainz: “One final push right here in Sakhir, maximising these remaining laps earlier than we transfer on with the correct Bahrain GP subsequent week. Overall, it has been a superb day, regardless of the pink flag that disrupted the operating a bit however I loved each single lap in the automobile right this moment. We examined lots of totally different configurations to gather as a lot knowledge as attainable.

“The car seems to be in a decent place and I’m proud of the work that the team has done to complete such a solid test programme.”

Mercedes

Having accomplished a fairly pre-season preparation, Mercedes engineers and drivers look like pretty delighted with the group’s heavily-upgraded 2024 F1 automobile, the W15. The automobile regarded nervous in the arms of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, notably on a single scorching lap.

It is subsequently no surprise that the Brackley-based group is predicted to wrestle for one-lap tempo in comparison with the field-leading Red Bull and even to Ferrari, however future tempo evaluation signifies that the W15 might emerge as second quickest in race trim proper behind the reigning champion and simply forward of the Scuderia.

George Russell: “We’ve had a strong three days right here in Bahrain. We managed to get by means of all of our deliberate programme, regardless of the stoppages. The automobile has been dealing with nicely and correlates to the feeling we had on the simulator forward of coming right here. We’ve received an excellent base to construct from.

“We’re aware that there’s a lot more lap time to find. We knew that would be the case ahead of the test, and Red Bull are looking very strong once again. Nevertheless, I’m confident that we’re in a much better place than we were 12 months ago. The team at Brackley and Brixworth have done a great job to get us into this position and with a car that is a step in the right direction. We now need to focus on firstly getting the most out of the package we have and secondly, adding more downforce and trying to close that gap.”

Lewis Hamilton: “Overall, it’s been a very good take a look at. I’m actually happy with everybody trackside and people again at the manufacturing facility. Every single girl and man has been working tirelessly, each at Brackley, Brixworth, and right here in Bahrain. It’s massively encouraging and nice to see everybody working so nicely collectively. The focus, willpower, and communication is the greatest I’ve ever seen.

“We know we’ve got work to do and we’re not yet where we want to be. We knew that would be the case coming into the test though. We’ve got a great platform to build on. We’ll go away and work hard over the next couple of days to go through all the data from the test. I’m really excited for the start of the season next week and we’ll be heading into it in good shape.”

Red Bull

Red Bull might need endured a tough interval internally in latest weeks, their modern 2024 F1 automobile appears to be a category of its personal as soon as once more. Max Verstappen might hardly disguise his large smile on his face after three three days of pre-season testing that noticed him report an attention-grabbing lap time on a used set of Pirelli’s earlier than performing an ominous future simulation.

Following a really tough season, Sergio Perez sounded optimistic when he assessed his and the automobile’s efficiency in Bahrain, however he appeared to have lacked tempo on heavy gas load in comparison with his team-mate.

Max Verstappen: “Overall it was excellent right this moment. We centered on the lengthy operating to get extra of an understanding of the automobile and it was good to see the efficiency of the automobile was very sturdy. We made the plan to not deal with pure lap time and tried totally different compounds, so I’m pleased with the laps that we did right this moment.

“As we head into the race weekend it is all about fine tuning the car and also seeing what the race throws at you when you push the car to the limit. We now need to look into the data a bit more and try to come up with a plan for the week ahead. We’ve had a really positive test and we have learned a lot from everything we changed, so we are looking forward to next week.”

Sergio Perez: “It has been a superb begin to the yr for the Team, we have now received loads of mileage over the previous few days. The run programme that we put collectively was excellent and meant we actually made the most out of the days. Now it’s time to look ahead to the race subsequent weekend, I’ve a superb feeling in the automobile, so let’s see as soon as we get to race it, however the feeling may be very optimistic.”

Visa Cash App RB

Red Bull’s sister group has gained a brand new identification for 2024 as they’ll compete as Visa Cash App RB as of this yr. With the power drink firm’s two groups have intensified their cooperation lately, it’s no surprise that RB have been considered one of the shock groups in Bahrain with each drivers having reported important positive factors with the new automobile.

Yuki Tunoda: “Testing went pretty clean. We didn’t precisely comply with our run programme as there have been some points with the monitor, however we responded nicely to them. I felt the automobile has made a superb step ahead in comparison with final yr, so I’m pleased with it thus far. The steadiness has improved, and particularly the entrance felt sturdy.

“We still have to find more with the rear, but it’s moving in the right direction. I completed many laps over the last couple of days and it was a good experience that allowed us to collect good data and help find the limit of the car. Looking at the timesheet, we’re not last, but it’s difficult to know where we are compared to the rest of the field, so I’m excited to start racing again next week.”

Daniel Ricciardo: “I believe testing has been good and we’ve undoubtedly developed the automobile from final yr. I accomplished loads of laps and really feel fairly match. Unfortunately, there have been some points on monitor with the drain, and we have been fearful we wouldn’t get our race run in, however fortunately, we did. I did some quick runs on Day 1 and a couple of and race simulation this morning. In phrases of efficiency, I believe we’re the place we anticipated to be.

“We’re aiming to combat in the midfield group and we’ll attempt to make the most of what we received. Overall, it was a clean take a look at, so I don’t suppose we go away right here with any issues. We made some positive factors and know the place we’re, but when we wish to be sure to combat for Q3 and factors persistently, there’s actually a bit extra we have to discover.”

Stake F1

Valtteri Bottas: “Today was a bit more difficult as the pink flag value us fairly some operating time. Ending the session with some precautionary checks resulted in a couple of missed take a look at objects and laps, however we nonetheless managed to get by means of our deliberate priorities. We have been in a position to be taught extra about the C44 and we really feel moderately ready for subsequent week’s race.

“It’s nonetheless fairly tough to guage the true efficiency and the aggressive subject, however we’re assured in the knowledge we collected. Now, it’s all about analysing, studying and bettering forward of the race weekend.”

Zhou Guanyu: “We had one other good day the place we centered rather a lot on our lengthy runs and managed to finish a second full race distance. We received by means of our programme and experimented with varied setups and configurations to attract our conclusions.

“It’s difficult to guage the full potential, particularly with a totally new automobile, and we’ll proceed working and making strides over the subsequent few days to be prepared for the upcoming weekend. However, the true efficiency and the way we rank in comparison with the different groups is but to be seen till the first qualifying and race. We really feel good and can use the remaining days to be taught and discover margins for enchancment.”

Aston Martin

Lance Stroll: “It’s been nice to be out in Bahrain for testing – I’m particularly happy to be right here after lacking final yr’s pre-season take a look at. Time in the automobile is so beneficial for all of us: we have been gathering knowledge and studying about the AMR24 with each lap we have accomplished.

“We’ve made good use of these days to run a lot of parts and setups – the car has felt better every day – and we’ve not had any reliability issues. It’s still too early to make any big predictions, but I’m looking forward to first race of the year next week.”

Fernando Alonso: “We have tried to be taught as a lot as attainable throughout this take a look at and centered on ourselves. It can be good to have the predictions and information of the place everyone seems to be however that’s not the case in testing.

“The AMR24 is a step forward from last year and we just have to see how big of a step forward against everybody else. We will know more next week after Qualifying. It was good to get a number of laps on the board over the three days and I feel fit and ready to go for the start of the new season.”

Williams

Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance: “We had a superb day to finish the pre-season take a look at. We did one other 120 laps and this time with none automobile points. Alex was in a position to construct on the work performed by Logan yesterday and continued to evolve the FW46. Across a variety of gas masses, the automobile was behaving nicely, and Alex was in a position to full an honest race simulation utilizing two of the tyre compounds that will probably be accessible subsequent week.

“Inevitably at this time of year, there is a lot of scope to push the FW46 harder and to develop it quickly. We have a few days to analyse the data from this week and decide how we build the cars for FP1 and how we look to introduce the first round of car updates. There is a lot to do but we have made a solid start and have a good foundation to build on.”

Alex Albon: “Firstly, we’ve received an honest automobile to go racing with. I do suppose we struggled just a little bit with the automobile throughout day one and two with simply how totally different it’s, struggling to rebalance it, however we made some large headway in making the automobile extra driveable. With the altering automobile traits, we shifted a few of our historic issues to totally different areas. Still, we’ve been in a position to repair a few of these however sadly in the course of, we’ve picked up a couple of issues we didn’t like.

“Despite this, we did a little bit of a radical set-up right this moment and this labored out for the higher. Looking at the remainder of the grid, the midfield has closed up rather a lot with everybody making a giant bounce from final yr, so it’s all fairly equal all through the subject. This yr goes to be all about the high-quality particulars and potential tracks that higher go well with others, so there are going to be numerous attention-grabbing battles.

McLaren

Lando Norris: “Final day of testing done. I’m happy with what we’ve achieved over the last three days and feeling ready for the start of the season. We encountered one or two setbacks here and there, but that is to be expected during pre-season testing. The important thing is we have a good understanding of the car now, we have plenty of data to go over and will come back stronger for the race next weekend. Overall, positive signs and we have a better understanding of the work we have to do. Bring on race week!”

Oscar Piastri: “That’s the end of testing. We had a smooth, fun session today and got plenty of laps on the board, which was good. We’re in decent shape and more or less where we expected to be, but we still have some work to do. It was useful to get some race sim work done today, we rarely get to practice doing races in testing, so it was nice to have that opportunity. We’ll see what everybody’s got next week and that will give much more of an indication as to where we are. I’m excited and ready for the first race.”

Haas

Kevin Magnussen: “You by no means get all the solutions you want and also you all the time need extra time, as three days of testing – and splitting these days with two drivers – is limiting. Given the restricted time, I believe we’ve performed rather a lot, received some good impressions of the automobile and the focus is making an attempt to be good on Sunday.

“We’ve been doing lots of high-fuel race operating, making an attempt to handle that difficulty, and I believe we’re going someplace. We haven’t fastened the difficulty utterly however hopefully it’s sufficient to make a distinction on Sunday. I anticipate it to be very shut between all groups once more this yr.”

Nico Hulkenberg: “Today we received by means of the program and did what we needed to do, in order that was good. We accomplished a race run as nicely – I haven’t seen it in comparison with anybody else’s – however now we’ve received numerous impressions after three days of testing, numerous knowledge and issues to investigate.

“We’ve been in a position to do some experiments like most, as that’s what you do in testing, and it’s been good, optimistic. I do not know the place we stand, or what it’s value, however we’ll get that reply in every week. It’s early days, however from in the automobile, from the place I sit, if I evaluate the automobile to final yr, it does really feel higher and like we’ve made a step in the proper route.”

Alpine

Esteban Ocon: “Overall, it was a productive three-day take a look at for us, most likely considered one of the strongest throughout my time at the group. Since I jumped in the automobile, from Day 1 all the things has been faultless and robust from an operational standpoint. The automobile has been working reliably and we managed to finish our testing programme.

“We improved the automobile and made progress from the first day to the final day. But we have now lots of work to do and it’s going to be attention-grabbing now to undergo all the knowledge and perceive the place we will make enhancements. Three days of testing is brief for a brand new automobile, so there’s nonetheless rather a lot to be taught and extract from our bundle. Thanks to everybody at the group right here, at Enstone and Viry for the lengthy hours over the winter. Now it’s time to go racing.”

Pierre Gasly: “We did lots of testing this week and now we have now an vital week developing the place we are going to undergo all the knowledge and proceed our understanding of this new automobile idea. It’s important to be taught all about the complete bundle and understanding how we will optimise it. On my aspect, it’s been fairly tough at occasions particularly as we missed out on some operating each yesterday and right this moment.

“The pink flag was unlucky on Day 2, then this afternoon we had the wheel forehead coming free from the automobile and that meant we missed a few laps at the finish. Still, it’s been a productive take a look at for the group throughout the final three days and that’s most vital. I’m undoubtedly excited for the first race.”