Alonso surprises as familiar face heads day 1 of Formula 1 testing

After a 95-day break between the end of 2022 and the start of 2023, Max Verstappen remains on top of the Formula 1 world after day 1 of pre-season testing at Bahrain.

Verstappen finished fastest in both the morning and afternoon sessions, being the only driver to complete a full day of driving, with his 1:32.837 set midway through the latter segment of the benchmark.

Despite leading for the majority of the day, the Red Bull driver only just held onto the fastest time when Fernando Alonso raised some eyebrows in a promising first outing in the AMR23.

Determined to make a statement, Alonso gave it his all on a fresh set of C3 tyres at the death, only to fall 0.029s behind the reigning champion.

Max Verstappen continued his strong form to top the opening day of pre-season testing at Bahrain. Photo by Mark Sutton / Sutton Images

Although the Spaniard had his sights set on P1, he and the entire Aston Martin team would have been thrilled with the result, after the day started poorly with Felipe Drugovich stopping on track just four corners into his out lap.

Alonso also suffered some floor damage, but still completed 60 laps to finish second fastest ahead of Ferrari pair Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.

The top four were all within half a second of Verstappen, with Lando Norris rounding out the top five for McLaren, which gave Oscar Piastri his first F1 laps in the morning.

Norris just edged out Lewis Hamilton, while Alex Albon put his Williams up to seventh after a fast morning run.

Zhou Guanyu, George Russell and Williams rookie Logan Sergeant rounded out the top 10.

Australia’s Piastri finished his first session of his maiden F1 campaign 18th, second to last only ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, but will gain some confidence after getting 52 trouble-free laps under his belt.

The opening day of testing ran surprisingly trouble free with the immediate red flag caused by Drugovich the only stoppage. Some cars ran wide at times or experienced lockups, but all completed the day without a major incident.

McLaren completed the least amount of laps with 92 after Norris’ afternoon running was halted due to brake dramas. The team hopes they are not related to the brake issues which slowed them down at the start of last season, but Norris’ pace was a pleasing sign.

Alpine carried plenty of confidence into 2023 after beating McLaren in the fight for fourth last year, but would not have been impressed to see Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon down in 16th and 17th.

Despite Aston Martin’s speed, McLaren’s fightback and Ferrari showing its hand, Verstappen’s dominance of day 1 was an ominous sign.

The Dutch logged 157 laps throughout the day, five more than next best Mercedes and was very pleased with the effort, experiencing no issues in the RB19.

“It was good. A lot of laps, so that’s of course what we wanted. [It was] basically a smooth day [with] no issues,” he told F1.Com.

“We could really focus on the car, try a few things, and also understand the new tyres for this year. We got loads of running during the day when it was really hot, or kind of hot, and in the evening as well – so a pretty okay day.”

F1 testing continues tonight starting at 18.00 AEDT with Perez replacing Verstappen for the day, while Piastri will be in action in the evening session, which commences at 23.00 AEDT.

For the first time Australians can watch Formula 1 pre-season testing on Fox Sports/Kayo. Live timing can be found on the F1 website.

2023 Formula 1 Pre-season test day 1 results

1. Verstappen (Red Bull) 1m32.837s, C3, 157 laps
2. Alonso (Aston Martin) 1m32.866s, C3, 60 laps
3. Sainz (Ferrari) 1m33.253s, C3, 72 laps
4. Leclerc (Ferrari) 1m33.267s, C3, 64 laps
5. Norris (McLaren) 1m33.462s, C3, 40 laps
6. Hamilton (Mercedes) 1m33.508s, C3, 83 laps
7. Albon (Williams) 1m33.671s, C4, 74 laps
8. Zhou (Alfa Romeo) 1m33.723s, C3, 67 laps
9. Russell (Mercedes) 1m34.174s, C3, 69 laps
10. Sargeant (Williams) 1m34.324s, C3, 75 laps
11. Hulkenberg (Haas) 1m34.424s, C3, 51 laps
12. Bottas (Alfa Romeo) 1m34.558s, C3, 71 laps
13. De Vries (AlphaTauri) 1m34.559s, test, 85 laps
14. Drugovich (Aston Martin) 1m34.564s, C3, 40 laps
15. Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) 1m34.671s, C3, 46 laps
16. Gasly (Alpine) 1m34.822s, C2, 60 laps
17. Ocon (Alpine) 1m34.871s, C2, 53 laps
18. Piastri (McLaren) 1m34.888s, C3, 52 laps
19. Magnussen (Haas) 1m35.087s, C3, 57 laps

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