After the Barcelona tests opened the 2022 Formula 1 course, the Great Circus moves to the venue where the championship starts on the 20th, and which will previously experience the last three days of testing, the Bahrain international circuit, in Sakhir .
1) What is there to follow in the Bahrain 2022 F1 tests? The tests themselves
At last! After F1 decided to make a ‘blackout’ to the Barcelona tests, qualifying them as a shakedown , doing them behind closed doors without an audience and without broadcasting on television, those in Bahrain will have all the spotlight.
The kingdom of Bahrain pushed for exclusive monitoring of the tests with the new cars, and these Sakhir tests will be broadcast on live television.
It is true that F1 finally opened its hand allowing many media (including Motorsport.com) to be in Barcelona, which published all the information and that we have already been able to see photos and videos of the new cars, but in Bahrain it will be the first time that The tests are followed live and on television. Do you want to know how and at what times? Look at the link above.
2) What is there to follow in the Bahrain 2022 F1 tests? Porpoising solutions
Porpoising , or porpoise or dolphinfish , is a problem that surprised the teams when they put their cars on the track in the first tests. A phenomenon that makes the car bounce on the straights (where they go up and down) and that worries the teams and especially the drivers because it can pose a danger.
The teams have been working from Barcelona to find a solution, but the one that comes to the fore soon, raising the cars so that they do not touch the bottom, would be detrimental to the performance of these single-seaters created to take advantage of ground effect.
It will be very interesting to follow the technical battle to solve this problem, to see how it adapts and what each team invents in their cars.
3) What is there to follow in the Bahrain 2022 F1 tests? Haas with no Russian presence
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine , the Haas team decided to remove the stickers from their Russian sponsor Uralkali on the final day of testing in Barcelona. Since then more consequences have been unfolding, and one of them is the dismissal of its pilot Mazepin.
Thus, in Haas they will have a new line-up, and it is still unknown who will be Mick Schumacher’s partner for the world championship. The team owner announced that Pietro Fittipaldi will contest the Bahrain test, but admitted that they have not yet decided who will complete the season.
Also, the other question will be to see how Haas decorates the VF-22. In Barcelona they simply removed the Russian colors and stickers and left the car white. Will they keep it that way or will they go back to a livery more typical of the team’s early years in F1?
4) What is there to follow in the Bahrain 2022 F1 tests? Latest updates
The three days in Bahrain will be the last in which the teams can fine-tune their cars for the start of the season. This does not mean that the single-seaters that we see in the tests are exactly the same as those that will later compete in the Bahrain GP that opens the course, but we will undoubtedly see great novelties in the cars during the three days.
The teams have had almost two weeks to work on the Formula 1 with the data collected in Montmeló, and taking into account that after these tests there will only be six days left until they return to the track in the first free practice sessions of the 2022 world championship, it is to be expected that on Saturday there are already very similar concepts, if not the same, to those that compete in the first race.
Very attentive to our website, where our technical analysts will tell you the best secrets of each team and each team.
5) What is there to follow in the Bahrain 2022 F1 tests? The Ferrari letters… or not
Although it is difficult to know which team tested what and with how much fuel in the Barcelona tests, all its rivals pointed to the Ferrari as the car to beat at this point in the season. From the Italian team they took off the favorite poster, but the sensations are that they can join the party of Red Bull and Mercedes.
In fact, as we have seen in other teams in the past, Ferrari decided not to use Pirelli’s softer tires (ultrasoft), hiding their cards. In fact, they didn’t use the soft ones either, and they limited themselves to shooting with medium ones. Will we definitively see a clearer sample of the pace of the Cavallino ‘s single-seater or will the Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc team continue without giving many clues?
6) What is there to follow in the Bahrain 2022 F1 tests? Alpine and the area… middle?
If Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari seemed to be in the lead from what we saw in Barcelona testing, the midfield area was much more confused. McLaren F1 seems to lead among them, much less clear was the pace of Alpine, AlphaTauri or Aston Martin. The French team suffered an explosion in Fernando Alonso’s engine on the last morning and did not run that afternoon, as did Aston Martin, Haas and AlphaTauri .
And while Alfa Romeo and Haas clearly seem to occupy the back of the grid, Williams left very positive feelings to get up to the middle part… and who knows if to give any more surprises.
7) What is there to follow in the Bahrain 2022 F1 tests? F1 cars at night
Formula 1 cars with the 2022 rules have fallen in love with almost all fans of the category, with attractive and futuristic contours that left great images in the first week of testing.
Now that Bahrain is visited and whose schedule means that part of the afternoon session will be at night, we will see how the new single-seaters look under the artificial light of the Sakhir circuit floodlights. There is intrigue to see what the new green of Aston Martin Racing looks like under the lights, or the blue and pink of Alpine, or the red of Ferrari.
And watch out, that in the Formula 2 tests in Bahrain there were problems due to a sandstorm, we will see what images the F1 drivers leave if similar circumstances occur.
