Pierre Gasly topped the time charts on day 1 as F1’s final testing began in Bahrain ahead of the 2022 season.
Gasly, in his Alpha Tauri, capitalized on the improved grip in the evening to set the fastest lap of Day 1 under the lights with an effort of 1m 33.902s. He completed 103 laps having had the AT03 to himself while team-mate Yuki Tsunoda prepared to take over today.
Pierre Gasly finished 0.6s ahead of Charles Leclerc but Ferrari continued their brilliant start to the F1 season with Charles Leclerc leading from the first hour of the day until the final hour before Carlos Sainz bettered his teammate’s time with 1:34:359 to secure a 2-3 finish for Ferrari.
Lance Stroll took P4, finishing ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon in P5. McLaren’s slow day improved by a late flying effort from Lando Norris, who took sixth overall.
Valtteri Bottas took P7 in the evening for Alfa Romeo after teammate Zhou Guanyu (14th) was briefly interrupted by a pit lane stoppage in the morning.
Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel finished ahead of George Russell in P9 who took the wheel of the radically redesigned W13 in the afternoon with his teammate Lewis Hamilton 11th overall after his morning drive. Between the Mercedes duo was Red Bull’s, Sergio Perez.
Daniel Ricciardo, Max Verstappen, Nicholas Latifi, Yuki Tsunoda, F1 returnee Kevin Magnussen, and Mick Schumacher, are yet to drive a lap in Bahrain testing.
