Twenty four hours but no clear picture
Twenty four hours to prepare for twenty four Grands Prix. The was officially the amount of time that the 20 drivers and ten teams had to prepare for the 75th FIA Formula 1 World Championship, although in fact track time on the first day was extended by 60 minutes to make up for time lost during the electrical blackout at the track.
That's not very long, but it's been like this for a few years now. This year, the weather in Bahrain certainly didn't help, with lower than usual temperatures for this part of the world and even the odd drop of rain on the second day, although the most unwelcome feature was the wind which meant the drivers had to deal with their cars behaving unpredictably.
That makes it difficult to assess the hierarchy among the teams, although it's fair to say that, yet again, this year's grid can be split into two groups. Once more, we have the four top teams, in absolutely alphabetical order, Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull and then we have the remaining six. This scenario is hardly unexpected given that the technical regulations have barely changed from the end of last season. Furthermore, the teams have worked flat out on development over the winter, because the sword of Damocles is looming, in the shape of more and more time and money being needed to work on the completely new 2026 cars and all this within the constraints of the budget cap.
A total of 3,897 laps, or 21,090,564 kilometres were covered over the three days. The C3 did the heavy lifting, completing 67.17% of the distance, followed by the C2 (20.88%) and the C1 (9.26%). The C4 only did a 101 laps, while the Intermediates managed just 3, used by Haas for some practice starts on Thursday morning, when it rained for almost an hour. Eight of the ten teams used the maximum permitted 30 sets fitted to rims. Ferrari only used 28 and Sauber 27.
Frenchman Esteban Ocon completed the most laps (260), the only driver to exceed the 1400 kilometre mark, by 7.12 kilometres. Rounding off the Stakhanovite podium was his fellow countryman, Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls, 1315) and, from the top four teams, Englishman George Russell (Mercedes 232). His rookie team-mate, the Italian Kimi Antonelli helped the Anglo-German team to top the list on 458 laps, but only just as Haas did 457 and Racing Bulls 454. At the other extreme, Red Bull only did 304, with Max Verstappen third from last on the drivers' list with 155, while Liam Lawson was one from last on 149, with only Lance Stroll lower down the order on 133.
Mercedes collected 800 more kilometres-worth of new car data than Red Bull, equivalent to an average day's less testing than the team running the four-time world champion. However, the other two top teams did not actually spend that much time on track: Ferrari is sixth on the list with 382 laps, followed by McLaren with one fewer lap. Driving for the reigning Constructors' champions, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris covered a very similar distance with 195 laps for the former and 186 for the latter, while the Italian team that chased them for the title down to the final race last year were split much more unevenly. Lewis Hamilton will turn up for his first Grand Prix with the Maranello squad having completed 58 fewer laps – a Bahrain Grand Prix race distance including the formation lap– than his team-mate Charles Leclerc (220 laps).
For the second year in a row, Carlos Sainz topped the testing time sheet with a 1'29”348 on the second day. When it came to race simulation, McLaren was the most impressive and will arrive in Melbourne, widely regarded as favourite, regardless of the fact that Oscar Piastri was only eighth fastest (1'29”940) and Lando Norris was 13th (1'30”430). Antonelli was the stand-out rookie, seventh in 1'29”784, while Brazil's Gabriel Bortoleto languished in 18th in 1'31”057, albeit four tenths faster than his Sauber team-mate, Nico Hulkenberg, while Oliver Bearman, while technically not strictly speaking a rookie, having raced in three Grands Prix last year, was last in the Haas in 1'32”361.
All the stats and signs from the 24 hours of Sakhir have to be looked at with a note of caution. How much fuel did Sainz have on board when he set the fastest time? Did Ferrari push to the maximum on its long runs? And Verstappen? Did McLaren hide its true flying lap pace? There are plenty of other imponderables, but never mind, because in less than two weeks, Formula 1 fans might get the answers when during Saturday afternoon's qualifying session in Albert Park there will nowhere to hide.
