Just a week before the start of the new 2022 Formula 1 season, which promises a lot of spectacle thanks to a major change in the technical rules of the single-seaters, the teams set foot on Persian territory to play their last days of preseason at Sakhir, the same circuit where they will give kick off the course with the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Gallery: The best photos from the first afternoon of F1 2022 testing in Bahrain
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Gallery: The best photos from the first morning of F1 2022 testing in Bahrain
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
As soon as they went out on the track, Mercedes confirmed the suspicions and surprised everyone present with a single-seater that was far from what was seen at the Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya, with all eyes pointing to its “non-pontoons”, the most radical solution of the entire preseason.
Beyond that, from very early on all the teams were seen on the asphalt of Bahrain, given the importance of collecting as much data as possible as soon as possible, since the distance of these tests with respect to the first race of the season, does not play in favor of the teams.
As a novelty, Haas did not participate during the first morning of testing in Sakhir due to a breakdown in the plane that was to transport the equipment from the American structure to Bahrain, something that caused a delay that could pay dearly.
Also with Haas as the protagonist, his new driver appeared in the paddock, an old acquaintance; Kevin Magnussen. In Danish he arrives to replace Nikita Mazepin, although according to the team itself, it is not planned that he will take the wheel of the VF-22 in the Bahrain tests.
On the other hand, the McLaren MCL36 also caught many eyes by slightly changing its decoration with a darker touch, replacing the blue on the top of the engine cover and on the side of the rear wing with a more aggressive shade of black.
Alpine, Red Bull and Ferrari were also in the spotlight for different reasons, and they and the other teams left us the always striking first photos under the artificial light of the Sakhir circuit, when night fell over Bahrain.
