FORMULA 1 TESTING SANDSTORM
Max Verstappen fought a sandstorm to set the fastest time on the opening day of Formula 1 testing. Image: Motorsport Images
The Formula 1 drivers and teams had to cope with a sandstorm on the first of a mere three days of testing for the upcoming 2021 Formula 1 season.
By DAN KNUTSON
“I’ve never seen a sandstorm come through here before in all the years that I’ve driven at this circuit,” said reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton. “The sand was moving like rain would move. Having sand on the tyres isn’t good for their longevity and getting consistency on long runs is difficult. Over a single lap it isn’t the worst, but you need lots of laps at this time of year to get data.”
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen topped the lap times of the 17 drivers on track.
“We had a very positive day and managed a lot of laps even though the track conditions were quite difficult,” Verstappen said after completing 138 laps. “It was very warm with a lot of wind and we know the degradation is always high around here so I’m very happy with how it went.
“We aimed for this number of laps and when you can complete a full programme like this the team can also be pleased with the information we have. We don’t need to talk about pace yet and it isn’t really a discussion until we get to Q3 at the first race weekend. It’s only then you see the real pace in all the cars. The main thing is that the car felt nice to drive, so it’s a positive start.”
Daniel Ricciardo wound up seventh best in his first outing in the McLaren.
Daniel Ricciardo sampled his new McLaren for the first time. Image: Motorsport Images
“It was really good to get back out in the car for my first proper session with McLaren,” the Aussie said. “I was able to push the car a little bit and get more familiar with it. It was a smooth morning; everything ran well and that’s all you can ask in testing – you want reliability on your side and the team back in Woking has done an awesome job of giving us a great start on day one.
“We got a good amount of runs and laps done, with a focus on getting more and more familiar and comfortable in the car.
“The plan for the next few days is similar, we’re aiming to leave here feeling ready to go for the Bahrain Grand Prix. Happy days!”
Off the pace were the reigning Mercedes world champions.
“On the install lap we noticed an issue with the gearbox so we had to localise the problem and change the gearbox which takes quite a bit of time,” said Valtteri Bottas who completed just six laps.
“Only at the end of the morning session could we get back out for a few more laps before the red flag. A total of six laps for me, all with aero rakes on the car so not much running today and not an ideal start.
“In recent years things have been pretty much bulletproof so it’s not a familiar experience. The good thing is that this year if you miss some running you can hopefully catch up because of the mileage limitation linked to the cost cap efficiencies. I am confident we can recover and I’m looking forward to two good days over the weekend.”
Hamilton was then able to put in 42 laps in the afternoon and post the 10th best lap.
“Today definitely wasn’t the cleanest of days that we’ve had but these things are sent to try us,” he said.
“Everyone has worked extremely hard to get us here. We had that mishap in the morning which was very unfortunate for Valtteri in terms of losing time on track and the team is working hard to try and understand what that was. I think they did a great job to turn the car around.
The second session wasn’t without its challenges, but we exist to find solutions to the problems we’re faced with. We just had a good debrief and we’ll keep working away.”
Carlos Sainz was upbeat after his first drive of the Ferrari. Image: Motorsport Images
In his first outing in the Ferrari, Carlos Sainz completed 56 laps.
“In general I think today was a positive first day of testing, where the target was to complete our whole run programme and we did it, so happy with that,” the Spaniard said.
“I guess everyone wants to figure out the performance of each car after today, but I think it is way too early to tell, and very difficult to know in these kind of conditions – full of sand, very windy and with big variations in temperatures. All in all I think we can consider today a very good day.”
DAY 1 RESULTS
Pos. Driver Team Time Laps
1 Max Verstappen (33) Red Bull 1:30.674 138
2 Lando Norris (4) McLaren 1:30.889 45
3 Esteban Ocon (31) Alpine 1:31.146 128
4 Lance Stroll (18) Aston Martin 1:31.782 46
5 Carlos Sainz (55) Ferrari 1:31.919 56
6 Antonio Giovinazzi (99) Alfa Romeo 1:31.945 68
7 Daniel Ricciardo (3) McLaren 1:32.203 45
8 Pierre Gasly (10) AlphaTauri 1:32.231 74
9 Yuki Tsunoda (22) AlphaTauri 1:32.727 37
10 Lewis Hamilton (44) Mercedes-AMG Petronas 1:32.912 42
11 Charles Leclerc (16) Ferrari 1:33.242 59
12 Kimi Räikkönen (7) Alfa Romeo 1:33.320 63
13 Sebastian Vettel (5) Aston Martin 1:33.742 51
14 Roy Nissany (45) Williams 1:34.789 83
15 Nikita Mazepin (9) Haas 1:34.798 69
16 Mick Schumacher (47) Haas 1:36.127 15
17 Valtteri Bottas (77) Mercedes-AMG Petronas 1:36.850 6
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