F1 Bahrain Preseason Test Day 3: Perez tops ‘Glory Run’ day

by Mark Cipolloni

Sergio Perez, on a set of soft C4 Pirelli tires, turned a lap of 1m30.305s in his #11 Red Bull Honda to lead all comers on ‘Glory Day’ running of F1 preseason testing in Bahrain. That time beat the pole time here from last year at 1m30.558s.

More telling was the times Perez set on the next several laps that almost matched his quick lap, indicating the Red Bull is able to get good long run times on the soft C4 tire.

Lewis Hamilton strapped on Pirelli’s C5 Super Soft tires meant for street circuits with low fuel in his Mercedes, but try as he might, could not match the time put up by Perez on the harder C4 tire and ended up 2nd quick, 0.359s behind Perez.

Asked to compare the W14 to its problematic predecessor, Hamilton continued: “Right now, for example, the bouncing that we had has pretty much gone. That’s a huge step for us.

“It’s nice to drive it without the bouncing in the corners. But there are still some underlying things that we are working through.”

“It’s going to be tough for everyone with this short period of testing.

“We’re trying to make sure we hit the ground running in understanding the car, the tires and the ability to respond. There are things we’re working through.

“Some of the balance limitations that we had last year are present. I’m really proud of everyone in the team for continuing to remain positive after a tough year last year.

“Amazing work through the winter to arrive and have the mileage that we’ve had. Every single year they arrive with the same mental focus and determination to fix whatever issue we have.

“I enjoy being in the offices just chugging away going through the data. We will hopefully get there.”

Valtteri Bottas did a Glory Run on the Super Soft C5 Pirellis to go third fastest during Happy Hour with a time of 1m30.827s in his Alfa Romeo that was 0.522s behind Perez who was on the harder C4s.

The C4 and C5 tires will not be used in next weekend’s race, so all the times by drivers shown on the soft and super soft tires below are ‘Glory Runs’ and should be disregarded.

The Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. turned nearly identical times on the C4 rubber to go 4th and 5th quick with times of 1m31.024s and 1m31.036s respectively. The Ferrari never made a ‘Glory Run’ with low fuel during ‘Happy Hour’ so we do not know just how fast they can go.

Yuki Tsonoda rounded out the top-6 for Alpha Tauri on the C4 rubber.

Predictions for Pecking Order

It’s hard to tell the exact pecking order coming out of testing because all the teams hide their true pace, but based on what we saw, this appears to the order:

Bahrain Day 3 Final Times