Roundup of F1’s 2024 pre-season test in Bahrain as Carlos Sainz emerged with the quickest lap time across three days of running.
Teams had just three days of running to get to grips and fine-tune their new cars ahead of the new season, which coincidentally starts in Bahrain on Thursday 29 February with two practice sessions.
Ferrari’s Sainz ultimately finished fastest overall across the three-day test with his overall fastest lap set on Day Two, whilst his teammate – Charles Leclerc also looked competitive as did reigning champion, Max Verstappen.
Day One
Mercedes’ George Russell was first out on track on a quiet opening day as teams focused on data gathering and setup experimentations, with Stake’s Valtteri Bottas setting the initial pace of 1m 35.334 before Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Leclerc went quicker.
Reigning three-time champion, Verstappen however calmly dominated the opening day as he topped the morning session with 1m 32.548, before he eventually found 1.204 seconds to finish the day fastest with 1m 31.344 and over a second clear of McLaren’s Lando Norris.
The majority of the field set their quickest lap times on the C3 tyres except for Russell, Alex Albon and Esteban Ocon in 12th, 15th and 16 positions, who set their best laps on the C2, C4 and C1 tyre respectively.
Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton were the only drivers to not participate in the opening day of the test, after Red Bull and Mercedes opted to run Verstappen and George Russell for the entire day respectively.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m 31.344 |
| 2 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 1.140 |
| 3 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 1.240 |
| 4 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | + 1.255 |
| 5 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 1.461 |
| 6 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 1.663 |
| 7 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 1.903 |
| 8 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 2.041 |
| 9 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 2.314 |
| 10 | Guanyu Zhou | Stake | + 2.527 |
| 11 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | + 2.538 |
| 12 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 2.765 |
| 13 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | + 2.792 |
| 14 | Valtteri Bottas | Stake | + 3.087 |
| 15 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 3.243 |
| 16 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 3.333 |
| 17 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 4.348 |
| 18 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 4.562 |
Day Two
Alonso and Perez were first out as the track went green but it was Sargeant who set the initial pace of 1m 33.561 but Leclerc soon lowered the benchmark time to 1m 31.822, whilst Sargeant went wide at Turn 11 just 45 minutes into the session.
Leclerc found a further 0.072s in the 50th minute to head Piastri as the pair headed the timesheet at the premature closure of the morning session just two hours and 22 minutes into running, after Hamilton and Leclerc struck a loose drain cover at Turn 11.
Stewards consequently spent 48 minutes trying to quickly replace the drain cover before it was decided to take an early lunch break in what would of been the final hour, which was tagged onto the start of the afternoon session with an earlier start time.
Ferrari opted to finish Leclerc’s programme at the start of the afternoon session before he handed over to Sainz, whilst other teams made their driver swaps as planned during lunchtime except Red Bull who opted to keep Perez in the car for the whole day.
The opening two hours of the afternoon proved largely quiet with no focus on flying laps until Sainz posted 1m 31.397 just past the two-hour mark to go top on the C3 tyres ahead of Norris, and the Spaniard soon afterwards lowered his time to 1m 30.686 on the C4 tyre.
Just past the three-hour mark, Sainz set the fastest lap time of the day on C4 tyres as he posted 1m 29.921 to finish fastest, whilst Perez and Hamilton left it until the final hour to go second and third on the C3 tyres.
Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the top five – with Sainz and Ricciardo being the only drivers to set their fastest lap on the C4 tyre, whilst everyone else achieved their quickest lap times on the C3 tyre.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1m 29.921 |
| 2 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.758 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 1.145 |
| 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 1.335 |
| 5 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | + 1.440 |
| 6 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 1.829 |
| 7 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 2.108 |
| 8 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 2.140 |
| 9 | Valtteri Bottas | Stake | + 2.306 |
| 10 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 2.407 |
| 11 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | + 2.657 |
| 12 | Alonso | Aston Martin | + 3.132 |
| 13 | Guanyu Zhou | Stake | + 3.794 |
| 14 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 3.883 |
| 15 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 6.690 |
| 16 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 7.588 |
| 17 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | + 8.153 |
Day Three
Stroll and Magnussen were straight out on track in the morning session but it was Sainz who quickly set the pace with 1m 32.017 in the 11th minute, which he soon lowered to 1m 31.247 just 14 minutes later.
The morning’s running however was curtailed after only 29 minutes after Perez ran over the same drain cover at Turn 11 which Hamilton and Leclerc struck on Day 2, and necessitated 76 minutes of repairs this time round.
That early finish to the morning session also meant that the lunch break was abandoned with teams instead running throughout the remainder of the break, with those who were running in the morning session still in their seats although driver swaps did take place mid-session.
Nobody however was able to better Sainz’s early time for the opening four hours of the extended afternoon session, until Verstappen just past the four-hour mark posted 1m 31.058 to go top which he lowered to 1m 30.763 almost half-an-hour later.
Leclerc meanwhile took over from Sainz and went quickest shortly after Verstappen lowered his initial benchmark, as the Monegasque produced 1m 30.409 on the C5 tyre whilst Verstappen could only reduce his deficit by 0.008s on the C3 tyres and just 0.433s off Leclerc’s effort.
Leclerc in response lowered his benchmark time further to 1m 30.322 on the C5 tyre to keep Ferrari on top heading into the final couple of hours of the pre-season test.
Come the checkered flag, Leclerc finished fastest ahead of Russell and Zhou who left their best laps until the end, prior to a test of the race start procedure which took place in the last 15 minutes without incident.
Lclerc and Hamilton were the only drivers to set their fastest laps on the C5 tyre, whilst Russell, Zhou and Tsunoda achieved their quickest laps on the C4 tyre amidst the majority of drivers setting their quickest laps on the C3 tyre.
Ricciardo however set his fastest lap on the C1 tyre as he finished slowest heading into the season-opener, as Sargeant sat out the final day after he ran in both sessions on Day Two.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1m 30.322 |
| 2 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.046 |
| 3 | Guanyu Zhou | Stake | + 0.325 |
| 4 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.433 |
| 5 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | + 0.453 |
| 6 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 0.662 |
| 7 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.708 |
| 8 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.837 |
| 9 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.925 |
| 10 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 1.161 |
| 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 1.364 |
| 12 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 1.677 |
| 13 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 1.716 |
| 14 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 1.786 |
| 15 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 1.827 |
| 16 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 2.731 |
| 17 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 2.757 |
| 18 | Valtteri Bottas | Stake | + 3.206 |
| 19 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | + 6.693 |
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