The three-day pre-season Formula test concluded in Bahrain on Friday, with all 10 teams and 20 drivers getting significant laps under their belts ahead of the 24-round season.
As it is pre-season testing, it’s hard to gauge the true pecking order as teams keep fuel loads and running plans an internal secret, but it does provide at least an insight.
Haas expects to start the season on the back foot, but in a bid to gain as much understanding of its revised car, it completed the most laps of the 10 teams with 439 in total.
Although there were no sizeable reliability issues, Williams did encounter some problems and was limited to the least mileage, accumulating 298 laps with the FW46.
Team | Driver Lap Count | Driver Lap Count | Team Lap Count |
Haas | Magnussen 239 | Hulkenberg 200 | 439 |
Ferrari | Sainz 224 | Leclerc 192 | 416 |
Red Bull | Verstappen 208 | Perez 182 | 390 |
Aston Martin | Stroll 196 | Alonso 182 | 378 |
Sauber | Bottas 193 | Zhou 185 | 378 |
RB | Ricciardo 210 | Tsunoda 156 | 366 |
Mercedes | Russell 189 | Hamilton 172 | 361 |
Alpine | Ocon 193 | Gasly 141 | 334 |
McLaren | Piastri 182 | Norris 145 | 327 |
Williams | Albon 160 | Sargeant 138 | 298 |
Laps covered are important as the more laps ticked on by the teams result in greater data gathering and more understanding heading into the upcoming season.
When it comes to lap times, it is harder to decipher just what one lap pace in testing means when it comes to the season getting underway next weekend.
Max Verstappen set a benchmark over a second clear of the competition before the resulting two test days were topped by Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.
While Red Bull’s pace at the front is somewhat assured ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix, Ferrari topping the final two days of the test should be a pinch of salt.
Both Sainz and Leclerc’s fastest times in the test were set on the C4 tyre – the second softest compound in Pirelli’s stable and one exempt from the three-compound allocation for the Bahrain Grand Prix, where the C3 will be the softest available.
Driver | Team | Compound | Best Time | Time of Day | Test Day |
Sainz | Ferrari | C4 | 1:29.921 | 16:39 | 2 |
Leclerc | Ferrari | C4 | 1:30.322 | 16:54 | 3 |
Russell | Mercedes | C4 | 1:30.368 | 18:52 | 3 |
Zhou | Sauber | C4 | 1:30.647 | 18:54 | 3 |
Perez | Red Bull | C3 | 1:30.679 | 18:50 | 2 |
Verstappen | Red Bull | C3 | 1:30.755 | 16:27 | 3 |
Tsunoda | RB | C4 | 1:30.775 | 18:37 | 3 |
Albon | Williams | C4 | 1:30.984 | 18:40 | 3 |
Piastri | McLaren | C3 | 1:31.030 | 17:08 | 3 |
Hamilton | Mercedes | C3 | 1:31.066 | 18:12 | 2 |
Alonso | Aston Martin | C3 | 1:31.159 | 16:55 | 3 |
Norris | McLaren | C3 | 1:31.256 | 16:23 | 2 |
Ricciardo | RB | C4 | 1:31.361 | 18:37 | 2 |
Hulkenberg | Haas | C3 | 1:31.686 | 16:22 | 3 |
Stroll | Aston Martin | C3 | 1:32.029 | 16:04 | 2 |
Ocon | Alpine | C3 | 1:32.061 | 18:30 | 2 |
Gasly | Alpine | C3 | 1:32.149 | 18:23 | 3 |
Bottas | Sauber | C3 | 1:32.227 | 15:39 | 2 |
Sargeant | Williams | C4 | 1:32.578 | 11:20 | 2 |
Magnussen | Haas | C3 | 1:33.053 | 12:14 | 3 |