Formula 1 News: Leclerc on top as Pre-Season testing concludes

Charles Leclerc strapped on the softest Pirelli C5 tires and turned a lap of 1m30.322s to top the final day of F1 pre-season testing in Bahrain.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

In pre-season testing, it’s difficult to tell who was really fastest because we do not know who was on a light fuel load, and who had their engine turned up.

The Ferraris have led the times on the final two days and were very fast on long runs, a promising result for the Scuderia.

George Russell with the soft C4 tires on his Mercedes, and during the coolest time of the day, turned a lap just 0.046s slower than Leclerc to finish the day 2nd.

Guanyu Zhou was 3rd fastest on the soft C4 tires, 0.325s behind in cool conditions in his Sauber C44.

Max Verstappen was 4th on used C3 medium Pirellis, 0.433s behind. Pirelli says there is 0.6s in time between a C4 and a C3 tire, and over 1-second between a C3 and a C5.

If this is true, then Verstappen was actually fastest on the day. He never strapped on a set of C4 or C5 tires so he is definitely sandbagging.

Yuki Tsunoda rounded out the top-5 for the Visa Cash App RB team 0.453s behind on a new set of C3 tires.

Day 3 in Review

Yesterday, #55 Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz was the quickest man on track, while today it fell to Charles Leclerc to go to the top of the classification. Behind the wheel for the second part of the day, the Monegasque stopped the clocks in 1:30.322 on a set of new C4s.

And it’s a Ferrari driver who was quickest overall at this test, with Carlos Sainz Jr. heading the field with the 1:29.921 he set yesterday.

However, in the closing stages today, George Russell in the Mercedes got pretty close to Leclerc’s time, claiming second place just 46 thousandths slower. The Englishman was running the same tire compound and made the most of the faster track as the surface temperature dropped.

A last minute surprise came in the form of Zhou Guanyu who was third quickest in the Stake F1 in 1:30.647 on the C4. Three-time world champion Max Verstappen was fourth (1:30.755, C3) with Yuki Tsunoda (Racing Bulls) fifth in 1:30.775 (C4).

As always, one cannot read too much into testing times as there are many unknown factors which have a significant impact on performance, starting with what fuel loads were used when the quick times were set, as well as the fact the teams are not all working to the same program.

19 drivers were out on track today, with only Sargeant (Williams) spectating. The morning session was stopped for around 80 minutes after a drain cover came adrift when Sergio Perez drove over it in the Red Bull. As a result, the lunch break was cancelled and from then on the session ran all the way to 19h00 with no interruptions.

The teams were able to do several long runs, providing them with a lot of data to analyze over the next few days, not just in preparation for next week’s Grand Prix, but also to guide car development over the coming season.

Pre-season Day 3 Test Times

Note: C1 Hardest Tire. C5 Softest Tire