Motorsports
Alpha Tauri and Ferrari faster on day one in Bahrain
Pierre Gasly with the Alpha Tauri AT03 made his debut on the opening day of the three-day F1 winter test in Bahrain, albeit with soft rubber – ahead of the Ferrari F1-75 of Carlos Saint and Charles Leclerc, who trailed him halfway.
The crucial three-day test in Bahrain, a week before it hosts its first Formula One GP of 2022, started again with Ferrari in the lead – as in the previous three days at Barcelona – where a number of drivers eventually took to the track the soft eraser, which reduces the times.
One of them was Pierre Gasley with the Alpha Tauri AT03, as the sun went down and temperatures hit the first year – before the day ended seven minutes from the checkered flag due to a four-a-ke from Sergio Perez on Red Bull RB8, at turn 8.
Gasley’s first year came even though Alpha Tauri, like most other cars, reintroduced the ‘porpoise’ phenomenon. This is an unexpected problem that arose at Barcelona – due to the air circulation under the car – which the teams had apparently not yet solved.
Last season’s two protagonists, Mercedes and Red Bull Racing, kept their tones low all day and were two seconds off Gusley’s times with George Russell and Pereth respectively, as they worked in areas other than the fastest lap of the W13 and RB18 respectively. Russell appeared to have some issues with the brakes, which he lost in the braking zones of several corners and opened up his line.
Driving the W13 in the afternoon, Lewis Hamilton was 2.5 inches behind France’s Alpha Tauri – on a day that saw Mercedes in the early morning spotlight thanks to the impressive modifications to the car he brought to Bahrain with Barcelona (and, more importantly, Barcelona the particularly striking design of the lateral air ducts).
Leclerc sat in the Ferrari cockpit in the morning, Saint in the afternoon. Monegasque remained at the forefront of the years before Gasley ended up completing his two fast laps, with soft Pirelli tires and possibly a low fuel load at the end. Towards the end, Sainth also set his fastest lap, but with the middle eraser.
In the fourth year, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll finally succeeded with the soft eraser. The Canadian had caused the only red flag earlier in the day that halted testing today. The cause was a broken aerodynamic part of the AMR22 that got stuck in the middle of the asphalt.
Sophia Jhon is a sports journalist and author. He has worked as a news editor for Sportish and is now a sport columnist for the same publication. Alberta’s professional interests lie largely in sports news, with an emphasis on English football. He has also written articles on other sporting topics.