Pre-practice
F1 is back with a new season, twenty-three races in five different continents. This year the grid is filled with three new rookies- Oscar Piastri replacing Daniel Riccardo for McLaren, Logan Sergeant replacing Nicolas Latifi for Williams and Nyck de Vries replacing Pierre Gasley for Alpha Tauri. This season Haas also welcomes back Nico Hulkenberg. The first race is set to take place this Sunday March 5th at 17:00 in Bahrain.
Practice 1
As the session begins, the Red bull’s look as though they have come back with a dominant car, for the second year in a row. The Aston Martin and two time world champion Fernando Alonso could be competing for second best, as the car looks “easy” to drive. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell’s Mercedes are looking better this year, rather than last year this time. Lance Stroll is set to race, even though he missed last weeks testing due a wrist injury. McLaren don’t look too good, both cars are sitting in the middle and bottom of grid with come of the slowest times- Lando Norris- 9th with a time of 1:31.570 and Oscar Piastri 15th with a time 1:32.024. Charles Leclerc rear wing looked extremely loose, as Ferrari test to which wing is the better fit for the track. As the session comes to as end, Perez set the fastest lap with a time of 1:32.758, Fernando Alonso 2nd and Max Verstappen 3rd with a time of 1:33.375.
Practice 2
As the session went on, several drivers seemed to have issues with their cars. Charles Leclerc complained that there was something with his clutch, Verstappen mentioned the car was “jumpier” than last weeks testing and Perez said that the settings of his car was not right. However, Red bull seemed to have sorted out there issues shortly after the drivers complained. This gave them an opportunity to get better lap times, leaving them with second and third the best times for the session. Both Williams drivers, Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant were part of the slowest drivers on track; whereas Haas Nico Hulkenburg set the fifth best of the session. Fernando Alonso set the best lap, finishing the session with a time of 1:30.907. The second practice session seems to have run smoothly for all drivers, it gave teams good information for tomorrows qualifying. Max said “There’s still a bit more work to do, we know we have a competitive car, it’s just about putting it all the pieces together.”
Tomorrow practice session three starts 13:30 and qualifying starts at 17:00, stay tuned for all the update
Naziya Davids' Blog 