What bothers Horner
Back to the Horner/Mercedes story once more. The Red Bull team boss is quoted as saying by ‘auto motor und sport’: “These are not mirror mounts, but two wings. […] From our point of view, Mercedes went a step too far. That is not in accordance with the spirit of the regulations. For us, these wings are illegal.”
As a reminder, Red Bull denies Horner ever said that. I don’t think that the colleagues just made up the statements, but in the end there is statement once morest statement, which is what we have to accept.
Alfa Romeo stands
The first minor problem of the session? The Alfa Romeo is at the entrance to the pit lane. But it might also be that Zhou deliberately ran the tank dry. Teams do that sometimes. Let’s see how soon we’ll see the C42 back on the track. A red flag is not necessary because the mechanics can retrieve the car. The session continues.
Haas can catch up
Meanwhile, the colleagues from ‘auto motor und sport’ report that Haas can make up for the missed morning session on Sunday. Mick Schumacher should then sit in the car. The background is that Haas is not to blame for the delay in the freight. A different case than, for example, an engine failure. Then you can’t get the time back.
So we can look forward to another four hours of testing on Sunday – even if only with one car.
Red Bull denies statements
That might still be funny between the cops and Mercedes … With regard to Christian Horner’s alleged statements that the W13 is illegal, the team has now released a statement stating: “Christian Horner has not given any interviews that concern the Mercedes car. All the quotes attributed to him this morning are false.”
Let’s take it that way.
lap table
Hamilton (32)
Perez (30)
Zhou (30)
Leclerc (28)
Vettel (21)
Albon (21)
Gasly (21)
Ocon (11)
Norris (8)
Fittipaldi (0)
New record
Leclerc cemented his place at the top with a 1:34.531, with Hamilton moving into P2 with a 1:36.365. Both were on C3 tires. A comfortable lead for Ferrari at the moment. But: The F1-75 didn’t get a major update either, so Ferrari can more or less continue where they left off in Barcelona.
At Mercedes you have to find a good set-up first. Due to the numerous updates, you basically start all over once more. In addition, there are the usual unknown factors such as fuel, engine mode and so on. What we’re saying is that Ferrari is unlikely to be 1.8 seconds ahead of Mercedes and the rest of the world…
Prototype Tires
In case you’re wondering what the C2 prototype is all regarding when you look at the timesheets, it’s the same tyre, but made in Turkey and not at Pirelli’s standard factory. This is just a comparison, it’s not a different mix.
times
Some shifts but no change at the top. Leclerc continues to lead. However, Zhou currently has the most rounds with 25. Here is the current overview:
1. Leclerc (Ferrari) – 1:35.953 (C4)
2. Perez (Red Bull) – 1:36.581 (C2 Prototyp)
3. Vettel (Aston Martin) – 1:36.637 (C2)
4. Norris (McLaren) – 1:37.580 (C4)
5. Albon (Williams) – 1:37.794 (C2 Prototyp)
6. Ocon (Alpine) – 1:37.852 (C2 Prototyp)
7. Zhou (Alfa Romeo) – 1:38.675 (C3)
8. Gasly (AlphaTauri) – 1:40.366 (C4)
9. Hamilton (Mercedes) – 1:40.605 (C2)
10. Fittipaldi (Haas) –
Midday update from Bahrain
You already know this from Barcelona: Kevin Scheuren and our editor-in-chief Christian Nimmervoll will meet live today at 11:40 a.m on the Formel1.de YouTube channel report with a first midday update from Bahrain. The complete daily analysis follows in the evening following the end of the test.
Short night
Of course, our Motorsport Network is once more represented in Bahrain with several people directly at the track. However, some colleagues had little sleep because their flight from the UK was delayed. And it’s not just regarding our people, there were also several team members on board, such as James Vowles from Mercedes.
So it was a pretty short night for some…
Porpoising
Incidentally, this should continue to be an issue, the teams have not yet completely solved the problem. For example, we just saw that Ocon got shaken up quite a bit on the straight. The effect continues to occur in other cars as well. We are already looking forward to the first statements as to whether the hopping of the cars might at least be reduced.
New underbody
Not only the mirrors on the Aston Martin are new, we also discovered a new underbody here. Meanwhile, we hear from Red Bull that the updates for the RB18 should not come until tomorrow. As we said before, we didn’t see any major changes there.
At Alpine, meanwhile, we see DRS in use. This is interesting because overtaking was not used on the A522 in Barcelona. So the problem seems to have been solved. At Williams, Albon reported a hot seat earlier. Unpleasant, there must be improved.
#FragMST
Piet wants to know: “There is currently a different constructor champion or [Fahrer-]World Champion. Who has the privilege of choosing the pits first, Red Bull or Mercedes?” The Constructors’ World Championship always applies here. The drivers’ world champion has the right to start number 1, but the other world championship applies to the pits.
We also got a question regarding the track: “The track is already ready for the start of the season next week, am I correct? Sponsoring and starting lights are all appropriate.” Yes, that’s the way it is. After the test, the teams stay directly at the track. There’s no point dismantling everything for a few days.
Also on the bottom…
… was tinkered once more at Mercedes. Because of the numerous changes, some in the paddock are already talking regarding a “W13B”. Officially it is still the W13.
Summary (Hour 1/8)
– Mercedes with the largest update package
– Teams use the first hour to collect data
– Haas shows new livery …
– … but misses the start following cargo problems
– Leclerc leads, but times not relevant yet
