In preparation for the only three-day pre-season test that is scheduled to begin at the Bahrain International Circuit on Wednesday, eight of the ten Formula One teams will have finished a shakedown test. Balázs Szabó of F1Technical writes on the teams’ last-minute setup for the Bahrain preseason test.
Teams rarely get the chance to do on-track testing outside of the formal pre-season and post-season tyre tests. Under the Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) clause, a team may only employ older vehicles to provide their junior drivers with an F1 car experience. McLaren has already taken use of this opportunity in the last two years to offer Pato O’Ward and Colton Herta, two IndyCar racers, the chance to demonstrate their abilities in an F1 car.
Pirelli also conducts in-season tire testing with an eye toward the upcoming campaign. Over the previous few years, the Milan-based tire producer has conducted sessions with a number of teams. Outfits are permitted to use their own cars, but only under “blind” conditions, which means they are limited to using parts that have previously been utilized on prior race weekends and must follow Pirelli’s setup instructions. Furthermore, Pirelli helps the other teams with car development by providing them with the knowledge gathered from these runs.
Additionally, each F1 team is allowed to shoot two “Promotional Events” (also known as filming days) with their current challenger in a given year. Many teams choose to use the chance to test the fundamentals of their brand-new cars by running at least one of the days before pre-season testing.
Previously, teams could only travel 100 kilometers on a filming day, but this year’s changes to the rules allow for a 200 km maximum track time.
Even though teams are only allowed to use Pirelli’s special “demo” tires during these filming days and the weather in Europe frequently makes it difficult to run at this time of year, many outfits believe it is essential to inspect the power unit, electronics, and installation of important parts of their car so they can get started as soon as they get to Bahrain.
Four teams chose to undertake a test run at Silverstone, which is a redesigned version of the circuit that held the first Formula One race in 1950. The maiden runs of Mercedes, Aston Martin, McLaren, and Red Bull’s new cars were conducted at Silverstone despite the unfavorable weather throughout those four days.
Only an hour’s drive from their Faenza factory, the Misano track was the destination for the erstwhile Toro Rosso / AlphaTauri team, which has adopted a new look for the forthcoming season.
Daniel Ricciardo discussed his initial thoughts of the car and their goals for the upcoming season in an interview with Autosport.com. “It was just nice to get a few laps again after a Christmas break,” he stated. Although it’s difficult to predict where we will end up, it felt great to be behind the wheel once more. Returning to Red Bull and that family was a huge relief that restored my sense of wholeness.
And this year marks the start of a new chapter in this team’s “career.” We are no longer viewed as merely a Red Bull-style junior team at this point. This is a squad that can support itself.”
Although Alpine debuted its new vehicle early, they haven’t had much time to test it on a real racetrack. Just one day before the pre-season testing commences, the Anglo-French team is scheduled to finish a shakedown test in Bahrain.
The only other team, Williams, has declined to engage in any on-track running prior to the three days of combined running in Bahrain. James Vowles, the team principal, stated that the Grove-based group desired additional time for growth prior to the travel to Bahrain.
Sometimes you’re trudging around on X-Rack tires in a windy situation, your piece of equipment toppling over, and you don’t pick up any new skills at all. Because of that balance, I would much rather test the car virtually on a virtual track before bringing it to Bahrain so that we can do it correctly.
Additionally, put off that [second] filming day until later in the year, when we either require more footage or the addition of more specialists or artists.
