Stroll missed pre-season testing in Bahrain after sustaining injuries during a cycling incident while training in Spain. Krack insisted that Stroll remains the Plan A and that no alternatives would be considered until it is clear that the Canadian can’t drive in next week’s Bahrain GP. Official reserve driver Felipe Drugovich remains the obvious favourite […]
Perez set the time on the last of the three days of testing, before the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix at the Sakhir circuit on March 5. Lewis Hamilton was second-quickest for Mercedes, ahead of Valtteri Bottas for Alfa Romeo. Mercedes bounced back after a scare on day two, which led to an overnight investigation in […]
Mercedes was pleased to report “no bouncing” during the first of three days of testing at Bahrain as it has sought to eliminate the porpoising phenomenon that dogged it last year. But the second day of running was blighted by persistent mid-corner balance issues for both Hamilton and team-mate George Russell, before the latter parked […]
Team principal Andrea Stella’s admission that the squad was not “entirely happy” with the launch specification version of its 2023 challenger had laid down a clear marker in reducing expectations. Launches are normally happy scene-setters for the campaign ahead, and it is quite rare for teams to deliver such a downbeat assessment as their shiny […]
After taking over from team-mate Sergio Perez for the afternoon session, Verstappen instantly lit up the timesheet in the Red Bull RB19 and carved his way to top spot with a 1m31.650s on the C3 tyres. The reigning world champion, who also spent the entire opening day of the test driving for Red Bull on […]
The German manufacturer enjoyed an encouraging first day of testing, but things went awry on Friday as it struggled to find a good balance with the W14. George Russell ended the day down in 13th on the timesheets, two seconds off pacesetter Zhou Guanyu, while Lewis Hamilton was a further three tenths adrift. Mercedes’ efforts were […]
The Chinese racer’s lap time was faster than what was managed during testing at the same venue last year, despite tweaks to the technical rules, although it was set on the very softest Pirelli tyre compound so is not truly representative. However, the Red Bull – in the hands of Max Verstappen, at least – […]
The Woking-based squad has been open since its launch that it is not entirely happy with the initial specification of the MCL60, which has lacked competitiveness in the Bahrain pre-season test. It is unsure just how much difficulty it is going to face in next week’s F1 season opener, but remains optimistic that upgrades planned […]
The Woking-based team has faced a few teething problems in pre-season testing, with its running slightly limited on Thursday after needing to reinforce parts to avoid failures. Furthermore, drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have not looked especially comfortable out on track, with their lap times not at the head of the timesheets either. McLaren’s […]
Official supplier Pirelli has been making preparations for F1 to abandon the use of tyre warmers from next year as part of a wider push to improve grand prix racing’s sustainability. However, with previous attempts to ban tyre warmers having been abandoned because of the technical complexities of devising with products that can cope with […]