Pirelli Bahrain 2021 Pre-season Test Review

By Courtesy of Pirelli
March 15 2021

Pre-season testing was influenced by the local conditions. The first day was consistently windy with gusts that reached 47kph (25 knots), affecting the aerodynamics on the cars. As a result of the wind, there was plenty of sand on the track that compromised grip. Temperatures were also particularly high, so the combination of these factors led to some surface overheating and increased tyre degradation. On the second day the wind still remained but temperatures were lower, which reduced the overheating. As a result the teams had a better balance with their cars, with plenty of set up work carried out over generally short runs, as was the case on the opening day. The third and final day was run in better track conditions with moderate winds and a cool breeze but track temperatures similar to the first day. Many teams carried out long runs using the C2, C3 and C4 compound tyres nominated for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF F1 AND CAR RACING
“hroughout all three days, all the compounds performed well and no problems such as graining emerged: only light abrasion on the softest compounds. As well as the weather conditions, lap times were naturally influenced by the different fuel loads run by each team, making performance comparisons with last year’s race and free practice at Bahrain very difficult. It’s also difficult to accurately assess the performance difference between the compounds, due to track evolution. The easiest to tell is probably the gap between the C2 and C3, which is around 0.5 seconds, while the gap between C3 and C4 is bigger than expected, with the C4 driven by many cars when the track was at its fastest. Now we look forward to the beginning of a season that will be the last one run with 13 inch tyres before the move to 18-inch tyres in 2022, for which a series of development tests has been planned throughout this year”

BEST TIMES AND COMPOUNDS
OVERALL – MARCH 12–14
DRIVER		TEAM		TIME			COMPOUND
Verstappen	Red Bull	1m28.960s (Day 3)	(C4)
Tsunoda		AlphaTauri	1m29.053s (Day 3)	C5
Sainz		Ferrari		1m29.611s (Day 3)	(C4)
Raikkonen	Alfa Romeo	1m29.766s (Day 3)	C5
Hamilton	Mercedes	1m30.025s (Day 3)	C5
Russell		Williams	1m30.117s (Day 3)	C5
Ricciardo	McLaren		1m30.144s (Day 3)	(C4)
Perez		Red Bull	1m30.187s (Day 3)	(C4)
Bottas		Mercedes	1m30.289s (Day 2)	C5
Alonso		Alpine		1m30.318s (Day 3)	(C4)
Gasly		AlphaTauri	1m30.413s (Day 2)	C5
Stroll		Aston Martin	1m30.460s (Day 2)	C5
Leclerc		Ferrari		1m30.486s (Day 3)	(C3)
Norris		McLaren		1m30.586s (Day 2)	(C4)
Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo	1m30.760s (Day 2)	C5
Ocon		Alpine		1m31.146s (Day 1)	(C4)
Mazepin		Haas		1m31.531s (Day 3)	(C4)
Latifi		Williams	1m31.672s (Day 2)	(C4)
Schumacher	Haas		1m32.053s (Day 3)	(C3)
Vettel		Aston Martin	1m33.742s (Day 1)	PROTO
Nissany		Williams	1m34.789s (Day 1)	(C3)

DAY 1 – MARCH 12
DRIVER		TEAM		TIME		COMPOUND
Verstappen	Red Bull	1m30.674s	(C3)
Norris		McLaren		1m30.889s	(C3)
Ocon		Alpine		1m31.146s	(C4)
Stroll		Aston Martin	1m31.782s	PROTO
Sainz		Ferrari		1m31.919s	(C3)
Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo	1m31.945s	(C3)
Ricciardo	McLaren		1m32.203s	(C2)
Gasly		Alphatauri	1m32.231s	(C3)
Tsunoda		Alphatauri	1m32.727s	(C2)
Hamilton	Mercedes	1m32.912s	(C2)
Leclerc		Ferrari		1m33.242s	(C3)
Raikkonen	Alfa Romeo	1m33.320s	(C3)
Vettel		Aston Martin	1m33.742s	PROTO
Nissany		Williams	1m34.789s	(C3)
Mazepin		Haas		1m34.798s	(C3)
Schumacher	Haas		1m36.127s	(C2)
Bottas		Mercedes	1m36.850s	(C2)

DAY 2 – MARCH 13
DRIVER		TEAM		TIME		COMPOUND
Bottas		Mercedes	1m30.289s	C5
Gasly		AlphaTauri	1m30.413s	C5
Stroll		Aston Martin	1m30.460s	C5
Norris		McLaren		1m30.586s	(C4)
Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo	1m30.760s	C5
Leclerc		Ferrari		1m30.886s	C5
Latifi		Williams	1m31.672s	(C4)
Perez		Red Bull	1m31.682s	(C2)
Ricciardo	McLaren		1m32.215s	(C3)
Alonso		Alpine		1m32.339s	(C2)
Tsunoda		AlphaTauri	1m32.684s	(C4)
Schumacher	Haas		1m32.883s	(C4)
Sainz		Ferrari		1m33.072s	(C3)
Mazepin		Haas		1m33.101s	(C4)
Hamilton	Mercedes	1m33.399s	(C2)
Vettel		Aston Martin	1m38.849s	PROTO

DAY 3 – MARCH 14
DRIVER		TEAM		TIME		COMPOUND
Verstappen	Red Bull	1m28.960s	(C4)
Tsunoda		AlphaTauri	1m29.053s	C5
Sainz		Ferrari		1m29.611s	(C4)
Raikkonen	Alfa Romeo	1m29.766s	C5
Hamilton	Mercedes	1m30.025s	C5
Russell		Williams	1m30.117s	C5
Ricciardo	McLaren		1m30.144s	(C4)
Perez		Red Bull	1m30.187s	(C4)
Alonso		Alpine		1m30.318s	(C4)
Leclerc		Ferrari		1m30.486s	(C3)
Norris		McLaren		1m30.661s	(C3)
Gasly		AlphaTauri	1m30.828s	(C4)
Ocon		Alpine		1m31.310s	(C3)
Mazepin		Haas		1m31.531s	(C4)
Schumacher	Haas		1m32.053s	(C3)
Bottas		Mercedes	1m32.406s	(C2)
Vettel		Aston Martin	1m35.041s	(C3)
Stroll		Aston Martin	1m36.100s	(C3)