Quick Ferrari set F1 testing pace after drain damage

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz set the pace on the second day of Formula One’s pre-season testing in Bahrain on Thursday after the team changed the car’s damaged floor following a loose drain cover incident.
The morning session was halted – the first red flag of the year – after the Spaniard’s teammate Charles Leclerc ran over the cover at turn 11.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton also went over it, with debris flying in the air.
Teams have only one car each on track over the three days of testing at Sakhir, with Leclerc and Sainz alternating, and Ferrari took the SF-24 back into the garage for repairs with the shutters down.
Sainz took over in the afternoon/evening session, which was brought forward an hour to make up for the time lost to track repairs, and lapped with a best time of one minute 29.921 seconds on the second softest C4 tyre.
“Another day of testing completed according to plan and without issues,” Sainz said.
“We managed to go through the whole afternoon programme smoothly, combining various tests with low and high fuel runs, so it was interesting to get a feel for this year’s car in different configurations.”
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was closest to him on the slower C3 tyre, 0.758 off the pace, with Hamilton third and McLaren’s Lando Norris fourth.
“We’ve clearly made an improvement with this year’s car and it’s much nicer to drive,” said seven-times world champion Hamilton, who completed 123 laps.
Leclerc had topped the earlier timesheets in 1:31.750 on the C3 tyre with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri 0.578 slower and Williams’ Logan Sargeant third and 0.828 off the pace.
The Ferrari driver returned in the afternoon to complete his programme before handing over to Sainz. The drain incident brought back memories of
Las Vegas last November when Sainz ran over a loose cover during first practice, bringing a lengthy halt to proceedings.
Ironically, the Spaniard had gone out to watch Leclerc on Thursday and was standing near Turn 11 when the incident happened.
Ferrari technical director Enrico Cardile said the problem was easily fixed.
“The damage was on a small portion of the floor...nothing worrying. We changed the floor, proceeding with our plan and no drama,” he added.
Sainz ended up with 84 laps to Leclerc’s 54. The season starts in Bahrain on March 2, the first round of what will be a record 24-race championship, and every minute of pre-season running is precious.
Red Bull’s triple world champion Max Verstappen was fastest on Wednesday, although timings do not mean so much with teams running to their own programmes, and Perez had his first turn on Thursday. The Mexican had a problem with overheating brakes in the morning but ended the day with 129 laps under his belt.
“It was unexpected to be in the car all day today but the delays meant my early runs were cut short, so the team decided to extend my day and I am back in the car again tomorrow morning,” he said. “Generally speaking, I think the RB20 is a step forward for the team and we have gone in the right direction.”

Albon hopes Williams hit the ground jogging, if not running
Williams have ironed out many of last year’s problems but may still take time to hit their stride when the Formula One season starts in Bahrain next week, Thai driver Alex Albon said on Thursday.
The former champions moved up from last to seventh last year and have overhauled their car as they seek to build on their improvement.
“We have fixed a lot of the problem areas from last year but there’s some new things we have to iron out. Part of the learning curve but it’s going well so far,” Albon told reporters during testing in Bahrain.
“It is tricky to put an absolute number on it. What’s clear is it’s going to take a while to get there,” he added of the improvement.
“It’s a totally different car to understand. “I don’t think we’re going to hit the ground running but we can hit the ground jogging and have a good few races hopefully.”
Williams had a difficult first day in Bahrain on Wednesday with Albon doing 40 laps and US team mate Logan Sargeant only 21 due to a fuel pump failure and driveshaft problem respectively.
Thursday proved much more positive, with Sargeant covering 117 laps.
“We still had a couple of issues throughout the day,” the American told F1 TV.
“Generally a positive day. We made good headway in the right direction. We know the direction we need to keep heading in... there’s plenty of things we still need to fix.” The American said he was still fighting the car more than he would like.
“It’s still a good car, we just need to iron out the details, get the balance in a slightly better place but we have plenty of ideas and tricks.”

Alonso leads call for more pre-season F1 testing
Fernando Alonso said it was ridiculous for Formula One to allow only a day and a half of pre-season testing per driver when teams spent fortunes on such sophisticated cars.
Even that limited amount was reduced for some drivers when Thursday morning’s testing in Bahrain – with the 10 teams each running a single car – ended early due to a loose drain cover.
The afternoon session was extended by an hour, but those who handed over to teammates lost out.
“It is difficult to understand how we can have one day and a half each driver, which is going to be one day and a quarter now after this morning, to prepare our championship,” said Aston Martin’s Alonso.
“It’s like in football or tennis you change the racket, the balls and everything before a tournament or a season and you let the players test all the equipment one day before a Grand Slam. We are talking about the most sophisticated sport and 200 million budget per team a year and things like that. It seems all ridiculous.”
Pre-season testing was reduced from six to three days last year and there will be no official in-season tests in 2024 with the season expanded to a record 24 races.
Teams are also allowed to carry out 200km filming days and private tests in 2022 cars as well as helping tyre supplier Pirelli.
Mercedes driver George Russell, a director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA), agreed with double world champion Alonso, the sport’s most experienced driver.
“I think if it’s a silky smooth test then that one and a half days is just the absolute minimum. But you look at what happened this morning and the drivers who lost out, it is a big disadvantage,” said the Briton.
“Every single lap you get is hugely valuable, the cars are more complex than ever, the tyres are extremely challenging... I’d like to see an extra day of testing or a second car. One and a half each is too little.”