Less than two weeks before the start of the 2021 season, the traditional winter testing has ended on the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain, the first Grand Prix to come.
The twenty drivers entered turned for three days and it was Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) who did the best.
On the French side, Alpine, with Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon, took valuable lessons, as did Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri).
For the ten teams, the main thing was above all to test the machines in real conditions and to take as much data as possible, which will be immediately analyzed.
Alpine, which took over from Renault while remaining in the bosom of the French brand, chained the laps, more than 130 per day for its two pilots.
Fernando Alonso in a blue F1 car is _____________pic.twitter.com/Son0tFLS9A
- Alpine F1 Team (@ AlpineF1Team) March 13, 2021
Red Bull and Verstappen impress
“We have seen improvements in terms of performance over the three days, explains the Polish Marcin Budkowski, executive director of Alpine, at F1 Only.
We had a busy schedule, which included almost six days of testing in just three, and we completed it without any major issues.
Our program was mainly focused on aerodynamic tests, but also on exploring settings, while allowing the drivers to gain confidence with the new car.
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At the end of the three days, Alonso, well recovered from his cycling accident a month ago, signs the tenth time (1 '30' '318) during the last Sunday session.
Ocon, who signed the third fastest time on Friday, finished with the 16th fastest time (1 '31' '146), ahead of the Haas and the Williams.
Pierre Gasly, the second French driver on the field after Romain Grosjean's departure in Indycar, is just behind Alonso (1 '30' '413) on his Alpha Tauri, the other Red Bull Racing team.
More generally, the Austrian team is the one that has marked the spirits the most.
Max Verstappen (3rd in the World Championship last year behind the two Mercedes) is the only one to have completed a lap under one minute and twenty-nine seconds (1 '28' '960).
With the German manufacturer to the star, Lewis Hamilton, the reigning world champion, and Valtteri Bottas sign the 5 th and 9 th fastest time of these winter tests.
The results of the winter tests played in Bahrain, from March 12 to 14.
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“We had some rhythm issues the last few years during winter testing and managed to make good progress before the first race,” said Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes performance director.
A surprise is however to be noticed.
It came from the Japanese Yuki Tsunoda (20 years old, Alpha Tauri), who finished 2nd behind Verstappen, although he has never played a single F1 event.
