Without any delay, the first official Formula 1 session of the 2024 season began at 8 am, then the green light came in the Bahraini pit lane, and George Russell was the first to make the way. Surprisingly, the teams did not postpone their departure and a large load of cars lined up behind the Briton.
It was a great opportunity for observers to see all of this year's structures in their full glory. Naturally, the greatest interest was from Red Bull and McLaren, although Williams also caused a technical surprise by introducing a different rear suspension system from that of its partner Mercedes.
As always, the first minutes of the classes were marked by calm driving of drivers with distinctive air flow measuring devices. In addition, the teams spared no paint required for testing flow vs.
The data collected from the pneumatic rams is used to see if the data on the track matches or correlates with the data generated by the wind tunnel or simulations at the base 👀#F1 test #F1 pic.twitter.com/VUigyWtb4z
– Formula 1 (@F1) February 21, 2024
Later, the risks began to become more daring in the Bahraini facility, which was confirmed by the timing of Charles Leclerc, who opened the results list at nine in the morning. But in the next hour, Max Verstappen came out on top. The Dutchman – full of interesting technical solutions in the RB20 side sections – took the lead in the C3 mixture, which he did not relinquish until the end of the session.
Monaco was behind him. Interestingly, this pair had their first duel of the year at the start line before the checkered flag was hung. Third place went to the most diligent competitor in the morning races, Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard completed as many as 77 laps.
Our first overtaking in 2024 🤯
Max Verstappen breaks into Charles Leclerc's car from the inside in the final minutes of the morning test session 😂#F1 test #F1 pic.twitter.com/aFepfFiGD3
– Formula 1 (@F1) February 21, 2024
On the other side in this regard were Alex Albon and Russell, whose lap timers stopped at 40 and 48 respectively, but in Taj's case, that was as a result of the FW46 failure, which occurred with just over 20 minutes left in the class. . Therefore, he had to stop his car, although the stewards did not decide to stop the trip and merely hung double yellow flags.
Aside from this, the morning session didn't have many other major problems. One cannot help but mention Esteban Ocon's trip to the gravel and the classic problems with wheel lock that happened to almost the entire team. After the checkered flag was displayed, drivers had the opportunity to practice starting the test.
Big SNAP to Esteban Ocon 🫣
Fortunately, the French driver was able to recover quickly to avoid the first big moment in pre-season testing! #F1 test #F1 pic.twitter.com/nTZAHTBD2P
– Formula 1 (@F1) February 21, 2024
1. Max Verstappen 1:32.548 (66 km)
2. Charles Leclerc 1:33.247 (64)
3. Fernando Alonso 1:33.385 (77)
4. Oscar Piastri 1:33.658 (57)
5. Yuki Tsunoda 1:34.136 (64)
6. George Russell 1:34.230 (48)
7. Valtteri Bottas 1:34.431 (68)
8. Alex Albon 1:34.587 (40)
9. Esteban Ocon 1:34,677 (60)
10. Kevin Magnussen 1:35.692 (66)
A photo gallery from the first day of testing in Bahrain can be found here.
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