Two-thirds of the Formula 1 pre-season is over, and once again it has become clear that the timesheets are right. That Guanyu Zhou set the best time of the day this Friday (and, therefore, of the two days of tests held) with tires that will not be used in the race, in track conditions that will not be repeated and With unrealistic fuel loads, it says it all. That is not what you should look at to get an idea of the situation on the grid.
Fernando Alonso showed that he is excited and eager to learn. In a preseason with only three days to spread out, making the most of the number of laps available is critical. The Spaniard had to spend all day behind the wheel, after sharing the premiere with Felipe Drugovich, and do it again this Saturday, when he will finish the tests. This detail implies that more than likely Lance Stroll will not be available to play the Bahrain GP with which the World Cup will begin, so it will be the Brazilian tester who will replace him. It’s critical that he rack up the miles to get the car he likes.
In this context, Alonso seems to be more and more comfortable. Long and short stints in a program that is very common for this type of session and all of them with stable times, without a car that makes big leaps in performance and, what is more important, without any serious mechanical problem that could hinder the planned program . The work of the engineers after the scares on Thursday paid off and, once again, the Spaniard was left with a more than optimal third time in the final time table and a total of 130 laps completed. The general feeling is that the risks that Aston Martin has taken with the AMR23 in its design are paying off and, in fact, there are already those who place it as the fourth car on the grid.
The one who seems unstoppable is Max Verstappen. The other candidates would have to be hiding a lot so that what has been seen in these two days of testing does not imply that the two-time world champion will start one or two steps ahead of the rest. In his first laps of the afternoon shift he had already set a time practically at the level of those shown in 2022, something difficult in these circumstances, and with medium tyres, and with just over three hours to go to the end of the day he had already beaten the clock in a more than enough way. Under normal conditions, he should be the most likely winner left over in the first races of the year. Although he did not finish the day as the fastest on paper, his time is the benchmark, since he did it with tires that will be used in the race. That is why Alonso’s third place has more value.
Without making noise, Ferrari is still there. Carlos Sainz led for a good part of the morning, with very reliable runs in conditions slightly different from those that will be seen in the race, but complying with the planned plan. The man from Madrid, who already set the third fastest time on Thursday, settled for sixth but a total of 70 more than acceptable laps. The Ferrari is still a car to watch out for, although it suffers from the same degradation issues that were already a nightmare in 2022.
The best thing is that nothing has happened: if there is no news, it is good news. “It has been another positive day. Reliability was again very good and we have been able to explore all the configurations we set out to test. We continue to explore the limits of the car and find potential areas where we can maximize performance. The main objective is to keep up the good work tomorrow and prepare for next week,” said Sainz, concisely, who still does not dare to place himself at any specific point on the grid. The man from Madrid will be in charge of closing the preseason this Saturday afternoon.
Where is Mercedes?
One of the great unknowns of this preseason is being Mercedes. The Anglo-German team is saving their cards, almost everyone in the paddock thinks, but the truth is that neither in one lap nor in long runs have they shown much. “We are suffering,” said the gambler Toto Wolff who, given the precedents, must be believed justly.
However, to deny reality would be absurd. George Russell starred in one of the red flags of the day when he was stranded on the straight with just over an hour and a half to go in the session and was the least lapped all day with just 26 laps. It is far from what they expected, and in fact they are one of the big questions that will still have to be resolved this Saturday for the last session of the preseason.