After a Friday day in which the red flags and breakdowns took almost all the limelight, the morning of this last day of preseason passed with apparent normality and all the teams were able to accumulate a large number of kilometers.
The big surprise on Saturday was given by Red Bull with the RB18. After seeing the aggressive new solution that Mercedes had brought to Bahrain in the sidepod area, the Austrian team reacted and put together an update for this final day of pre-season testing at Sakhir Circuit.
At the end of the first four hours of session, Sergio Pérez led the time table with a best attempt of 1:33.105 with the C4 and a total of 43 laps. Red Bull took almost an hour to appear on the asphalt due to some changes in the car, however, from the first minute on track the RB18 behaved as expected, setting competitive times instantly.
Behind, Guanyu Zhou completed a true marathon at the wheel of his Alfa Romeo. After over 80 laps, the Chinese driver finished second with a time of 1:33.959, also on the C4 tyre, the second softest in the entire Pirelli range.
Others who added many kilometers were Pierre Gasly and AlphaTauri, a team that until now has left very good feelings both in terms of performance and reliability. The French driver set a best time of 1:34.865 with the C4 which earned him the end of the first four hours in third position with more than 90 laps, the busiest of the morning.
In the fourth step of the time table finished Carlos Sainz, who unlike the previous days did not occupy the first positions. With more than 70 laps behind him, the driver from Madrid left Ferrari at a distance of +1,800s from Red Bull (1:34.905 with the C5).
Fernando Alonso and Alpine once again left bittersweet sensations, the French team spent almost more time working in the garage than analyzing data on the track. The Spaniard completed a total of 54 laps and recorded a time of 1:35.328 with C4 that served him to be fifth, in the afternoon they will return to the asphalt in search of answers in what will be the last four hours of preseason.
McLaren premiered new parts for the front brakes of the MCL36 on this last day of testing, and their cooling problems have been the biggest headache for the British team since they landed in Bahrain. Lando Norris, forced by Daniel Ricciardo’s COVID-19 positive, was back behind the wheel of the car and finished sixth with a 1:35.504 with C4.
Nicholas Latifi finished seventh with a Williams that was able to recover sensations with 73 laps after a Friday in which they were practically unable to roll after the unexpected fire of the FW44.
Eighth was Lance Stroll, with 50 laps and a best time of 1m36.029s in C3, with Aston Martin being one of the few teams not to run soft tires throughout the morning session.
In penultimate position, Lewis Hamilton at the wheel of his Mercedes set a best time of 1:36.217 with the C5. Judging from almost 80 laps and periods of activity on the track, the Germans focused on running simulations throughout the morning.
Kevin Magnussen and Haas closed the qualifying table with only 38 laps, very few if we take into account that they went out to shoot an hour before all their rivals and that they had 60 minutes more than the rest of the teams at their disposal to collect data. The best time of the rescued Danish driver was 1:38.616 with C2, very far from the rest of the records.
During the last 10 minutes of the session, Formula 1 practiced some of its procedures, such as the red flag and the starts. In one hour, at 1 pm (mainland Spain), all the single-seaters will return to the asphalt to complete the last and important four hours of preseason. Click on the link below to see which drivers will be on track.
Results from Saturday morning at the 2022 F1 Test in Bahrain
| Pilot | Equipment | laps | Time (tyre) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
Red Bull |
43 | 1’33″105  |
| 2 |
|
Alfa Romeo | 82 | 1’33″959 |
| 3 |  |
AlphaTauri | 91 | 1’34 “865 |
| 4 |  |
ferrari | 68 | 1’34″905  |
| 5 | |
Alpine | 54 | 1’35″328 |
| 6 |  |
McLaren | 39 | 1’35″504 |
| 7 |
|
Williams | 73 | 1’35″634  |
| 8 |
|
Aston Martin |
53 | 1’36″029 |
| 9 | |
Mercedes | 78 | 1’36″217 |
| 10 |
|
Haas | 38 | 1’38 “616  |
