The ten Formula 1 racing teams are about to have their dress rehearsal. From Thursday to Saturday, Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari and Co. put their cars through their paces one last time.
sport.de will intensively accompany the three days of testing in Bahrain from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. What to expect Who is the focus? The most important questions and answers in advance:
What’s up in Formula 1 anyway?
Formula 1 tests its new cars once more before it really gets going: from Thursday to Saturday, the cars will be chased around the course in Bahrain. It is important to understand the new regulations better – because just over a week later World Championship points are at stake in the same place: the season begins on March 20th on the desert circuit.
World champion Max Verstappen in the Red Bull is then just as much in the spotlight as record champion Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes, and Sebastian Vettel and Mick Schumacher also have big plans.
Who convinced right away?
McLaren and Ferrari in particular looked strong in the first tests in Barcelona, were quite fast without any problems and were able to cover many kilometers. The two ambitious racing teams, which recently clearly formed the second guard behind Mercedes and Red Bull, were particularly convincing. Apparently they implemented the new regulations well.
Is the field moving closer together overall?
That was the big hope: under the new budget cap, all teams have to design a new car. This should break up the old power relations, and Formula 1 should also be less class society than before. At least the test in Barcelona was promising: McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull were surprisingly close together, with the remaining six teams behind them forming an equally close field.
What does that mean for the start of the season in Bahrain?
Unfortunately not very much yet. The test in Barcelona was a maiden voyage, each individual team is just beginning to understand and optimize the possibilities of their car. In addition, the cars that compete in the tests will only be identical to those that start the first free practice session in Bahrain to a limited extent: Many teams have announced updates, and the whole season will probably have its own development race. After all, there are only six days available for the tests.
What’s going on in Mick Schumacher’s Haas team?
The storm is over, that much can be said. During early testing in February, Russia started its war in Ukraine, and that couldn’t be ignored at Haas either: a title sponsor led by pro-Kremlin oligarch Dmitry Mazepin, whose son in one of the two cars.
The US team reacted quickly, removing sponsor logos and the Russian colors from the car while it was still in Spain. A few days later it was clear: the deal with Uralkali will be terminated, and Nikita Mazepin will no longer drive for the team. In Bahrain, substitute driver Pietro Fittipaldi will now test the second car alongside Schumacher. No decision has yet been made for the new season.
How is Sebastian Vettel doing with Aston Martin?
Inconspicuous, and that’s not bad news. Aston Martin didn’t fall behind like it did at the start of last season, instead they went along. However, the ambitions are high, in four years the team wants to fight for the title. And actually already fighting for podiums and isolated victories this year. Whether that is possible remains to be seen.
Is everything running smoothly with the new cars?
no way. Every team suffered from a particularly noticeable teething problem: the cars jumped up and down the straights, which the engineers called “purpoising”.
The reason: due to the specifications of the new regulations, more contact pressure is generated via the underbody – but if this is too great, then the car sucks itself down onto the track, the floor touches down, the contact pressure breaks off, the car shoots up. And then everything starts all over again. Ferrari and McLaren were also at the front here – and solved the problem the fastest.