Combined, Formula 1‘s drivers clocked a mammoth 19,954,044 kilometres throughout the three days of testing at the Bahrain International Circuit, which is almost enough to go round the Moon twice!
Carlos Sainz was the fastest driver overall, setting his best time on Day 2 of testing in the afternoon session as he led a Ferrari 1-2 testing finish, in a promising sign for the Italians.
Surprisingly, no Red Bull appears in the top four although Verstappen‘s C3 time was on a used set and thus is still very competitive showing that at the absolute least, their new car isn’t a complete disaster.
Now they’ve gathered a lot of data to ensure they bring the best packages possible to the upcoming 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix and on the few occasions they got to loosen the wheels, how quickly did they manage to go?
Remember that the higher the number, the softer the tyre compound. C4 and C5 are red-walled softs, C3 is a medium and C2s and C1s are hard Pirelli tyres.
Fastest lap times for each F1 driver at testing
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Tyre | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | C4 | 1:29.921 |
| 2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | C4 | 1:30.322 |
| 3 | George Russell | Mercedes | C4 | 1:30.368 |
| 4 | Zhou Guanyu | Sauber | C4 | 1:30.647 |
| 5 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | C3 | 1:30.679 |
| 6 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | C3 | 1:30.755 |
| 7 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | C4 | 1:30.775 |
| 8 | Alex Albon | Williams | C4 | 1:30.984 |
| 9 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | C3 | 1:31.030 |
| 10 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | C3 | 1:31.066 |
| 11 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | C3 | 1:31.159 |
| 12 | Lando Norris | McLaren | C3 | 1:31.256 |
| 13 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | C4 | 1:31.361 |
| 14 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | C3 | 1:31.686 |
| 15 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | C3 | 1:32.029 |
| 16 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | C3 | 1:32.061 |
| 17 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | C3 | 1:32.149 |
| 18 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber | C3 | 1:32.227 |
| 19 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | C4 | 1:32.578 |
| 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | C3 | 1:33.053 |
