Formula 1 tests: what have we learned about new cars?

Behind the top four, there appears to be a gap of 1.5 to 2 seconds ahead of the midfield group comprising Haas, Alpine and Audi, followed by the Racing Bulls and Williams. At the back are Cadillac and Aston Martin, the only team that is completely transparent about their performance.

There is a lot of interest and expectation on Aston Martin, with Alonso at the wheel, design legend Adrian Newey at the helm since March, and Honda as their new engine partner.

But the year started poorly. Alonso’s teammate Lance Stroll said on Thursday that the car was far from quick – around four seconds.

Break that down over the lap using the GPS data available to all teams, and it appears that about 1.5 seconds of it comes from the engine and the rest from the car, resulting in poorer performance the slower the corner becomes.

One may wonder how this could be possible?

The answer seems to be a combination of the car’s design process being delayed, partly due to Newey’s late arrival, partly because the team is building its own gearbox for the first time ever, and Honda falling behind because… well, there’s no clear answer to that.

Honda officially pulled out of Formula One at the end of 2021, dismantling much of its engine division before changing its mind in 2023. But it still has people working on upgrading its existing engine in the meantime, and the lead time for the new regulations wasn’t all that different from Red Bull’s, yet the Japanese company appears to be nowhere in comparison.

Alonso was not happy with Aston Martin’s performance on Thursday, as he dropped his gloves at one stage after getting out of the car. And who can blame him?

This could be his last season in Formula 1. He turns 45 in July and his contract expires at the end of the year. Spending it behind wasn’t what he expected.

“We are definitely not in the position we wanted to be in,” Alonso said, noting that they were late in starting testing, and that reliability is still not good, and this is costing them time to improve the car.

“Looking back is always easy. If we could have started earlier, if Adrian would have been here not on March 2, but a few months ago, if Honda had not gone and then come back – they are just hypotheticals,” said former Formula 1 driver Pedro de la Rosa, who was with the team as long as Alonso and has now been appointed as the team’s representative to ease some of the burden on Newey.

“The bottom line is we’re slow. We’re not where we want to be. Let’s put a plan together. Let’s look forward, not back.” [at] What went wrong?

“The important thing is that we know exactly what’s wrong [can] Work on it. This is what gives us confidence. We don’t know [how long it will take] But slowly, gradually, the gap will narrow.”

Fastest laps in the first Bahrain test

1 Kimi Antonelli (ETA) Mercedes, 1 minute 33.669 seconds

2 George Russell (GBR) Mercedes 1:33.918

3 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Ferrari 1:34.209

4 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1:34.273

5 Oscar Piastri (AUS) McLaren 1:34.549

6 Lando Norris (GBR) McLaren 1:34.669

7 Max Verstappen (NED) Red Bull 1:34.798

8 Oliver Biermann (GBR) Haas 1:35.349

9 Esteban Ocon (France) 1:35.578

10 Franco Colapinto (Argentina) Alps 1:35.806

11 Nico Hulkenberg (GER) Audi 1:36.291

12 Ishak Hajjar (France) Red Bull 1:35.610

13 Gabriel Bortoletto (Brz) Audi 1:36.670

14 Pierre Gasly (France) Alps 1:36.765

15 Alex Albon (THE) Williams 1:36.793

16 Liam Lawson (NZ) Racing Bulls 1:36.808

17 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Cadillac 1:36.824

18 Carlos Sainz (Spa) Williams 1:37.186

19 Arvid Lindblad (GBR) Racing Bulls 1:37.470

20 Lance Stroll (CAN) Aston Martin 1:38.165

21 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Aston Martin 1:38.248

22 Sergio Perez (Mexico) Cadillac 1:38.653