Photo: YouTube / F1
The 2023 Formula 1 season is closer than ever as the testing at the Bahrain International Circuit is officially over, and Red Bull came out as the top dog. But that does not seem to unsettle Ferrari, who will try to mount a championship challenge this year.
Some interesting performances were delivered during the pre-season testing, and some secrets were revealed. From Fernando Alonso’s surprising pace in his Aston Martin to McLaren’s further downfall, fans had the chance to learn a lot about what they can expect to see.
One thing that caught absolutely nobody off-guard was the fact that Red Bull managed a flawless performance over the three-day period. The car had no reliability issues and managed to put in some quick times, with both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez able to top the leaderboards on two separate days.
But while Red Bull was busy proving they handled the cost-cap infringement penalties expertly, Ferrari was lingering way off the pace. The closest the Scuderia managed to get to Red Bull’s chart-topping times was with Carlos Sainz’s lap, which was still 0.4 seconds slower than the one Verstappen managed.
During the second day of testing, things got even worse, as Carlos Sainz, still ahead of star driver Charles Leclerc was 8 tenths slower than the reigning world champion. And surprise, surprise, the last day followed a similar pattern, this time with Leclerc ahead but still 0.7 of a second slower than the Red Bull driven by Sergio Perez this time around.
This is obviously a worrying trend to see over the testing period, making the 2023 season look bleak, but one that did not worry Ferrari and especially its new team principal Frederic Vasseur. He explained that pre-season testing could be deceiving, pointing out how, in the last two years, pole position was not occupied by the driver who topped the testing charts.
The former Sauber boss added that the team can be happy with the results, as the car looks good performance-wise. He then went on to state, “The most important was to scan every kind of setting on the car because you know that the picture of today is completely different to the picture of next week.”
The newly appointed team principal insists that the lap times cannot be compared due to the teams testing different parameters. He also claims that Ferrari was trying various setups with varying degrees of success, which can obviously skew the timesheets in Red Bull’s favor.
However, one cannot help but wonder whether such an adamant yet evasive response is actuallly a way of covering up the team’s shortcomings on track. That starts to ring even more true when you look at a couple of other factors.
The focus was set heavily on the pre-season test being described as a checklist the team has to go through. While that is true to a degree, it is also a way to at least try to push the car to its limits and understand its potential.
Add to that the fact that Vasseur downplayed Leclerc’s statement. The young Monegasque claimed that the improvements in straight-line speed negatively affected the car’s cornering performance. This was dismissed by Vasseur, who claimed that was just a competitive racing driver who always wanted more, as it is natural to do in Formula 1, leaving a big question mark over Ferrari’s head.
One thing that caught absolutely nobody off-guard was the fact that Red Bull managed a flawless performance over the three-day period. The car had no reliability issues and managed to put in some quick times, with both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez able to top the leaderboards on two separate days.
But while Red Bull was busy proving they handled the cost-cap infringement penalties expertly, Ferrari was lingering way off the pace. The closest the Scuderia managed to get to Red Bull’s chart-topping times was with Carlos Sainz’s lap, which was still 0.4 seconds slower than the one Verstappen managed.
During the second day of testing, things got even worse, as Carlos Sainz, still ahead of star driver Charles Leclerc was 8 tenths slower than the reigning world champion. And surprise, surprise, the last day followed a similar pattern, this time with Leclerc ahead but still 0.7 of a second slower than the Red Bull driven by Sergio Perez this time around.
This is obviously a worrying trend to see over the testing period, making the 2023 season look bleak, but one that did not worry Ferrari and especially its new team principal Frederic Vasseur. He explained that pre-season testing could be deceiving, pointing out how, in the last two years, pole position was not occupied by the driver who topped the testing charts.
The former Sauber boss added that the team can be happy with the results, as the car looks good performance-wise. He then went on to state, “The most important was to scan every kind of setting on the car because you know that the picture of today is completely different to the picture of next week.”
The newly appointed team principal insists that the lap times cannot be compared due to the teams testing different parameters. He also claims that Ferrari was trying various setups with varying degrees of success, which can obviously skew the timesheets in Red Bull’s favor.
However, one cannot help but wonder whether such an adamant yet evasive response is actuallly a way of covering up the team’s shortcomings on track. That starts to ring even more true when you look at a couple of other factors.
The focus was set heavily on the pre-season test being described as a checklist the team has to go through. While that is true to a degree, it is also a way to at least try to push the car to its limits and understand its potential.
Add to that the fact that Vasseur downplayed Leclerc’s statement. The young Monegasque claimed that the improvements in straight-line speed negatively affected the car’s cornering performance. This was dismissed by Vasseur, who claimed that was just a competitive racing driver who always wanted more, as it is natural to do in Formula 1, leaving a big question mark over Ferrari’s head.
Google News