Fernando Alonso’s “Arabian Night”: Fastest in the second Bahrain test

Although again we should take this news with a grain of salt as we don’t know the fuel levels and engine settings of the cars, the first year of Fernando Alonso and the Aston Martin AMR23 is satisfying for the Spaniard’s supporters who have been waiting for more than a year with Optimism. decade to see him again.

The third quarter of the one-hour second practice session of the Bahrain GP, ​​the opening race of this year’s Formula 1 championship, was very reminiscent of qualifying: everyone went onto the track on the soft rubber to simulate qualifying.

Alonso’s first time (1m30.907s) came just after Sergio Perez’s first in the Red Bull RB19, while a few minutes later Max Verstappen was unresponsive in the champion’s other car: he was 2mm faster than his Mexican counterpart but 0.169s off of Alonso’s best time.

Although the true picture – with the same fuel levels and the best engines – will be seen in tomorrow’s qualifying tests, the Spaniard’s performance today sets the stage for the two-time champion to claim a podium spot – especially considering the Aston Martin AMR23 was the leader in development testing in Bahrain (on par with Red Bull and superior to Ferrari and Mercedes) in tire management and lap layout during race simulation.

Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc was unable to match the pace of the top three and in his own qualifying simulation he was 0.46 inches behind the Spaniard and Aston Martin and three tenths behind Red Bull.

Certainly there are serious signs that the Scuderia is not showing its full pace even today. Along with further testing the ultra-low ride height settings and subsequent pre-race laps on the soft rubber, it was just 9mm quicker than Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas – and that’s not in line with his core testing.

At the age of 6, Lance Stroll confirmed the good condition of Aston Martin. But from the incar footage it has become clear that the Canadian is experiencing serious difficulties driving after undergoing surgery on his right wrist two days ago.

Pierre Gasly scored 7th place and began to show some of the A523 dynamics that Alpine have been keeping well hidden until now. He did indeed put it some 80 millimeters ahead of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes, who closed the top ten by two tenths of Leclerc’s Ferrari.

Coupled with George Russell’s just 13th place, a further 3 tenths down, it looks like Mercedes is still struggling to realize the new W14’s potential. On the contrary, Lando Norris showed that McLaren is in a slightly better position than he himself thought: the MCL60 lags behind in aerodynamic efficiency, has a lot of drag on the straights, but still the Brit stayed 27mm close to Hamilton.

The top 6 was closed by the eighth other car in the top 10, the Alfa Romeo C43 with Guanyue Chow in the cockpit. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz, committed to the Ferrari schedule, finished 14th, albeit just over 1 second behind first-year Alonso.

Although the first important clues have already emerged, the first solutions to this year’s Formula 1 puzzle will be given in Saturday’s qualifying tests (at 17:00), after the third free practice session of the Bahrain GP (at 13:00). 30 p.m.).