Mercedes sidepods dominate as Gasly finishes fastest but with Ferrari pace ominous
Mercedes sidepods dominate as Gasly finishes fastest but with Ferrari pace ominous
Pierre Gasly topped the first day of F1 pre-season testing in Bahrain but it was Mercedes and Ferrari that dominated the spotlight.
Gasly completed a full day of running in his Alpha Tauri and slowly eased himself into the session after trailing pacesetter Charles Leclerc by over five seconds in the early stages.
But by the end of the day, the Frenchman topped the timesheet with a lap of one minute 33.902secs, albeit on the softest on the five tyre compounds available.
It was Ferrari, however, that at this stage suggested it might have the edge, with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc second and third quickest, both on the medium C3 rubber, with the Spaniard 0.457s adrift.
The session was brought to a premature close after Sergio Perez endured a clumsy spin in his Red Bull which resulted in him trundling backwards into a gravel trap with seven minutes remaining.
The Mexican finished the day 10th but posted the most laps of any driver with 138.
Mercedes could only manage P9 and P11 via George Russell and Lewis Hamilton respectively.
The team caused a stir, however, with its striking new sidepod design that Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has allegedly described as "illegal".
Haas missed the first four-hour session of the day due to a freight delay and will make the time up across the coming days.
Reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi, however, was the slowest of all in his one outing before Kevin Magnussen returns to the cockpit.
Bahrain pre-season test day one times
1. Pierre Gasly [AlphaTauri] 1:33.902 [103]
2. Carlos Sainz [Ferrari] 1:34.359 [52]
3. Charles Leclerc [Ferrari] 1:34.531 [64]
4. Lance Stroll [Aston Martin] 1:34.736 [50]
5. Alex Albon [Williams] 1:35.070 [104]
6. Lando Norris [McLaren] 1:35.356 [50]
7. Valtteri Bottas [Alfa Romeo] 1:35.495 [66]
8. Sebastian Vettel [Aston Martin] 1:35.706 [39]
9. George Russell [Mercedes] 1:35.941 [60]
10. Sergio Perez [Red Bull] 1:35.977 [138]
11. Lewis Hamilton [Mercedes] 1:36.365 [62]
12. Fernando Alonso [Alpine] 1:36.745 [24]
13. Esteban Ocon [Alpine] 1:36.768 [42]
14. Guanyu Zhou [Alfa Romeo] 1:37.164 [54]
15. Pietro Fittipaldi [Haas] 1:37.422 [47]
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
F1 News Today: Hamilton and Verstappen rivalry takes SHOCK twist as F1 team 'set to announce' mega signing
- 43 minutes ago
Horner Red Bull saga in new 'evidence' update as big F1 star left 'very angry' - GPFans F1 Recap
- Yesterday 23:57
Cocky sporting legend CHALLENGES Hamilton in stunning claim
- Yesterday 22:57
Ricciardo boss in 'super disappointing' claim amid RB stars' performance
- Yesterday 21:57
F1 team 'set to announce MEGA signing' in major Red Bull challenge
- Yesterday 20:57
Horner in BRUTAL Wolff swipe amid Verstappen to Mercedes links
- Yesterday 19:57
Related news
Red Bull lead the way as reliability concerns arise - How F1 teams fared in testing
Mercedes radical design triggers Horner concerns of F1 "mirror war"
Mercedes and McLaren play catch up to Red Bull and Ferrari - What we learned at second test
Verstappen throws down gauntlet - complete F1 2022 pre-season test results
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860