Perez quickest in RB18, and AlphaTauri most productive

Published on 12 March 2022 by Kees-Jan Koster

On Saturday morning everyone was looking at Oracle Red Bull Racing as they had given the RB18 some major updates, especially the newly formed sidepods stood out. In the four-hour session Sergio Perez set the quickest time (1:33.105), doing many practice pitstops and completing 43 laps. AlphaTauri was the most productive with Pierre Gasly doing 91 laps.

As Haas missed the Thursday morning, they were given an extra hour ahead of the session this morning. Kevin Magnussen, who replaced the Russian Nikita Mazepin, drives a good number of kilometres for the American team, before the lights go green for the other nine teams.

The Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll are equipped with aero rakes in front of the rear tyres. All teams, except for Red Bull, come out on track, while the RB18 is given the latest updates. At first glance, modifications to the floor and new sidepods are the major enhancements, with the sidepods having notches aimed at the floor to try and increase downforce. Perez comes out on track when the session is fifteen minutes underway, having flow viz on the front suspension and at the front of the sidepods.

Perez sets the quickest time on the C4 tyres, a 1:33.105, just before the two-hour mark. The Mexican has then driven sixteen laps. Ferrari (with Carlos Sainz) has done 41 laps and leads the list with number of laps. The porpoising phenomenon, the cars bouncing at hight speeds, continues to be a talking point. And turn 10 is shown often, when another driver locks up and goes off track.

The second half of the morning is used by most teams to do some long runs, mostly on the harder Pirelli tyres. When Pierre Gasly and Hamilton come together on track, it turns into an enjoyable fight between the AlphaTauri driver and the Brit, overtaking each other. It seems that driving closer to a car ahead is easier in this new generation of cars, after what we have seen so far in testing.

In the final phase of the session, to test the systems, the session is red flagged, after which the drivers line up for a standing start. Which was aborted followed by an extra formation lap. Initially the first four cars did a normal start, after which this test and the morning sessions were completed.

Results Formule 1-test Bahrain – Saturday morning

01 Perez        Red Bull       1:33.105   43
02 Zhou         Alfa Romeo     1:33.959   82
03 Gasly        AlphaTauri     1:34.865   91
04 Sainz        Ferrari        1:34.905   68
05 Alonso       Alpine         1:35.328   54
06 Norris       McLaren        1:35.504   39
07 Latifi       Williams       1:35.634   73
08 Stroll       Aston Martin   1:36.029   53
09 Hamilton     Mercedes       1:36.217   78
10 Magnussen    Haas           1:38.616   38