The final F1 pre-season test of 2022 came to its end in Bahrain which was aired on TV, giving fans a first view of the new cars in action.
After the shakedown in Barcelona, F1 teams headed to Bahrain for what was dubbed as the ‘proper’ test which was aired on F1 TV along with Sky Sports. It gave the fans to watch the cars in action as opposed to seeing still images and short videos.
From Barcelona to Bahrain, there were changes made on the bodywork of few teams with Mercedes bringing a radical one where it now has the ‘slimmest’ sidepod of all. Red Bull showcased a more bulging one to its earlier sleak design.
It was a big reliability test for the F1 teams in hot conditions and abrasive tarmac which provided valuable data on the tyre side. The proposing or bouncing was seen on the straights which mixed up with the usual bumps of the Bahrain circuit.
Almost all the teams got more running than what they did in Barcelona, despite some of them facing reliability issues. Teams like Alfa Romeo and Haas had more track time where the latte got extra time to cover up for the lost time due to freight delay.
It not only featured a new livery but Kevin Magnussen replaced Nikita Mazepin to bring the #20 back in F1. The team also ran Pietro Fittipaldi, while McLaren were forced to run only Lando Norris after Daniel Ricciardo fell ill which was later diagnosed as COVID-19.
F1 Teams’ total 3-Day Lap Count in descending order:
Mercedes – 385
AlphaTauri – 371
Ferrari – 349
Alfa Romeo – 343
Aston Martin – 339
Red Bull – 320
Alpine – 299
Williams – 258
Haas – 253
McLaren – 200
F1 Drivers’ total 3-Day Lap Count in descending order:
Lando Norris – 200
George Russell – 198
Pierre Gasly – 194
Lewis Hamilton – 187
Guanyu Zhou – 184
Sergio Perez – 181
Carlos Sainz – 180
Yuki Tsunoda – 177
Lance Stroll – 173
Charles Leclerc – 169
Sebastian Vettel – 166
Valtteri Bottas – 159
Esteban Ocon – 153
Fernando Alonso – 146
Max Verstappen – 139
Nicholas Latifi – 136
Alex Albon – 122
Mick Schumacher – 108
Kevin Magnussen – 98
Pietro Fittipaldi – 47
Daniel Ricciardo – 0
F1 Power Unit Manufacturers’ Total 3-Day Lap Count in descending order:
Mercedes (four teams) – 1182
Ferrari (three teams) – 945
Red Bull Powertrains (two teams) – 691
Renault (one team) – 299
Here’s the time list – best to worst – of all F1 drivers/teams:
Here’s how Day 1 went in Bahrain
Here’s how Day 2 went in Bahrain
Here’s how Day 3 went in Bahrain
Here’s the stats from Barcelona