“At the moment Ferrari seems to be the strongest overall”said Briton George Russell (Mercedes) on Thursday. “Ferrari seem to be the team in form at the moment”added, Friday, March 11, the boss of Red Bull Christian Horner, after the new show of force of the prancing horse in the preamble to the new Formula 1 season, which will start on March 20.
Author of the best time of this second day of free practice, Carlos Sainz Jr does not ignite for all that and announces that we will see more clearly during the first qualifications of 2022 next Saturday, still in Bahrain. “It’s typical of Mercedes to praise the others before crushing the competition in the first race”sweeps Sainz, before implying that the GPS data shows that the German team is guarding under the pedal.
His time of 1’33”532 is, in any case, the best so far on the Sakhir circuit. Above all, he turned 479 thousandths faster than the Dutch world champion Max Verstappen (Red Bull), second, and 609 thousandths faster than the Briton Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), fourth.
It might only be #F1Testingbut it doesn’t stop Max and Carlos from some racing antics! #F1 pic.twitter.com/GZPB6VuQQV
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 11, 2022
The second Ferrari of Monegasque Charles Leclerc is sixth at but it drove in the morning, in the heat making the track slower. Also note the promising 5th place for the Alpine of Frenchman Esteban Ocon, despite a stoppage “as a precaution” which caused a red flag in the afternoon.
Briton Lando Norris (replacing for the second consecutive day at McLaren Daniel Ricciardo, ill since Thursday morning) set the seventh time despite brake problems since the day before. As Team Principal Andreas Seidl declared himself “pretty optimistic about getting back in the car tomorrow”, the Australian finally tested positive for Covid-19. But he should “to be delivered in time for the next weekend and the Bahrain Grand Prix”, ensures the release of the team.
McLaren Racing statement on Daniel Ricciardo.
—McLaren (@McLarenF1) March 11, 2022
Nicholas Latifi (Williams), he was only able to complete 12 laps in the morning, before being forced to stop to extinguish his flaming rear brakes. “The problem that caused the fire was quite minor”said his team on Twitter.
The day also saw the return to driving of Dane Kevin Magnussen, recalled in extremis by Haas to compete in the 2022 season in place of Russian Nikita Mazepin, ousted following the invasion of Ukraine.
“As far as we are concerned, the Mercedes complies with the rules which have just been interpreted differently.”
Christian Horner, Red Bull Team Principalat a press conference
Off the track, Christian Horner has finished burying the controversy over the bodywork of Mercedes and the almost absent sidepods on the sides of the single-seater.
On Thursday, the specialized media Auto Motor und Sport reported the Briton’s doubts regarding the conformity of this F1. Red Bull had denied it and Horner explained at a press conference on Friday: “The quoted comments were certainly never madehe says. The car is innovative, this interesting solution.”
Now remains to be seen “whether it’s fast or not”continues Horner. “Only time will tell but, in terms of compliance, it’s up to the International Automobile Federation to judge.” What she did, assured Toto Wolff, the boss of Mercedes, Thursday.
So who is the real favorite for 2022? The last day of winter testing on Saturday will allow us to learn a little more about the forces involved. Not without recalling that the previous season, the first test session in Barcelona at the end of February had been dominated by Mercedes in front of Red Bull…