Scuderia AlphaTauri today took to the 5.412km Bahrain International Circuit for the first of three days of official FIA Formula 1 pre-season testing, ahead of the season opener at the same venue on 28th March.
Pierre Gasly started the morning session strong, racking up an impressive 74 laps in his all-new AT02 – the highest of all drivers within the session. Finishing P2 ahead of the lunchbreak, he put in an impressive first performance as ambient air temperature continued to rise through the morning to reach 32°C and ended the day in 8th place. The afternoon saw Yuki Tsunoda head out for his first official test, with conditions becoming more difficult as an increase in wind saw large amounts of sand and dust settle on the track. The wind and the sand, both in the air and on the track didn’t make his day an easy one, but with a slightly shortened session due to an issue in the car, he could complete a total of 37 laps to finish in P9 at the end of his first day. Tomorrow both drivers will take to the track again for the second day of pre-season testing, with Tsunoda in the morning and Gasly in the afternoon.
Pierre Gasly #10 Time: 1.32.231 74 laps – 400.488 km Pos. 8th
“Everything felt really good with the car this morning, we had a positive start to testing and were able to do a lot of laps – our main goal for today. Running for just three days, it’s important that we make the most of this time on track. We managed to complete our full testing programme for the first day and I felt very comfortable in the car. Of course, there are areas that we need to work on and improve but that’s to be expected on the first day. The conditions today are quite tough to drive in – F1 cars don’t perform well with this level of wind – which isn’t great but it’s good to understand how the car works in these situations, especially as the first race of the season will be at this circuit.”
Yuki Tsunoda #22 Time: 1.32.727 37 laps – 200.244 km Pos. 9th
“It was great to experience the new car properly for the afternoon session and to complete my first official Formula 1 pre-season test as a Scuderia AlphaTauri driver. Obviously, at this stage mileage and data collection is key for me – as a rookie I want to gain the most out of the only three-days of testing available and learn a lot ahead of the first race here in Bahrain. It’s been quite a difficult afternoon session unfortunately. The weather has been bad, with the sand and wind making the conditions tricky to drive in, and then the team discovered an issue with the fuel system in my car. This meant that I had to box ahead of the end of the session – they’re investigating it now though and I’ll be ready to head back out on track when the lights turn green for the morning session tomorrow.”
BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - MARCH 14: Yuki Tsunoda of Japan driving the (22) Scuderia AlphaTauri AT02 Honda on track during Day Three of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on March 14, 2021 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Joe Portlock/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202103140328 // Usage for editorial use only //
BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - MARCH 14: Pierre Gasly of France driving the (10) Scuderia AlphaTauri AT02 Honda is pushed back into the garage during Day Three of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on March 14, 2021 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202103140362 // Usage for editorial use only //
BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - MARCH 14: Pierre Gasly of Scuderia AlphaTauri and France during Day Three of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on March 14, 2021 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202103140350 // Usage for editorial use only //
BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - MARCH 14: Yuki Tsunoda of Japan driving the (22) Scuderia AlphaTauri AT02 Honda on track during Day Three of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on March 14, 2021 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Joe Portlock/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202103140315 // Usage for editorial use only //
BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - MARCH 14: Yuki Tsunoda of Scuderia AlphaTauri and Japan during Day Three of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on March 14, 2021 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202103140286 // Usage for editorial use only //
BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - MARCH 14: Yuki Tsunoda of Japan driving the (22) Scuderia AlphaTauri AT02 Honda on track during Day Three of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on March 14, 2021 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Joe Portlock/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202103140267 // Usage for editorial use only //
BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - MARCH 14: Yuki Tsunoda of Japan driving the (22) Scuderia AlphaTauri AT02 Honda on track during Day Three of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on March 14, 2021 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Joe Portlock/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202103140251 // Usage for editorial use only //
BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - MARCH 14: Yuki Tsunoda of Japan and Scuderia AlphaTauri talks in a press conference during Day Three of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on March 14, 2021 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202103140121 // Usage for editorial use only //
BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - MARCH 14: Pierre Gasly of Scuderia AlphaTauri and France during Day Three of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on March 14, 2021 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202103140103 // Usage for editorial use only //
BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - MARCH 14: Pierre Gasly of France driving the (10) Scuderia AlphaTauri AT02 Honda on track during Day Three of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on March 14, 2021 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Joe Portlock/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202103140066 // Usage for editorial use only //
BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - MARCH 14: Pierre Gasly of France driving the (10) Scuderia AlphaTauri AT02 Honda on track during Day Three of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on March 14, 2021 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Joe Portlock/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202103140051 // Usage for editorial use only //
BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - MARCH 13: Pierre Gasly of France driving the (10) Scuderia AlphaTauri AT02 Honda on track during Day Two of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on March 13, 2021 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202103130198 // Usage for editorial use only //
BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - MARCH 13: Pierre Gasly of France driving the (10) Scuderia AlphaTauri AT02 Honda leads Nicholas Latifi of Canada driving the (6) Williams Racing FW43B Mercedes during Day Two of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on March 13, 2021 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202103130179 // Usage for editorial use only //
BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - MARCH 13: Yuki Tsunoda of Japan driving the (22) Scuderia AlphaTauri AT02 Honda on track during Day Two of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on March 13, 2021 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202103130123 // Usage for editorial use only //
BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - MARCH 13: Yuki Tsunoda of Japan driving the (22) Scuderia AlphaTauri AT02 Honda on track during Day Two of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on March 13, 2021 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202103130086 // Usage for editorial use only //
BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - MARCH 13: Yuki Tsunoda of Japan and Scuderia AlphaTauri prepares to drive during Day Two of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on March 13, 2021 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202103130065 // Usage for editorial use only //
BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - MARCH 13: Yuki Tsunoda of Japan driving the (22) Scuderia AlphaTauri AT02 Honda on track during Day Two of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on March 13, 2021 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202103130060 // Usage for editorial use only //
BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - MARCH 12: The helmet of Pierre Gasly of Scuderia AlphaTauri and France during Day One of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on March 12, 2021 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202103121230 // Usage for editorial use only //
BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - MARCH 12: Yuki Tsunoda of Scuderia AlphaTauri and Japan during Day One of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on March 12, 2021 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202103121218 // Usage for editorial use only //
BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - MARCH 12: Yuki Tsunoda of Japan driving the (22) Scuderia AlphaTauri AT02 Honda on track during Day One of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on March 12, 2021 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Joe Portlock/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202103121069 // Usage for editorial use only //
BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - MARCH 12: Yuki Tsunoda of Japan driving the (22) Scuderia AlphaTauri AT02 Honda on track during Day One of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on March 12, 2021 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Joe Portlock/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202103121062 // Usage for editorial use only //
BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - MARCH 12: Yuki Tsunoda of Japan and Scuderia AlphaTauri and Pierre Gasly of France and Scuderia AlphaTauri look on from the grid during Day One of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on March 12, 2021 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Joe Portlock/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202103121060 // Usage for editorial use only //
BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - MARCH 12: Pierre Gasly of France driving the (10) Scuderia AlphaTauri AT02 Honda on track during Day One of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on March 12, 2021 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Joe Portlock/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202103120663 // Usage for editorial use only //
BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - MARCH 12: Pierre Gasly of France driving the (10) Scuderia AlphaTauri AT02 Honda leaves the garage during Day One of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on March 12, 2021 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202103120618 // Usage for editorial use only //
BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - MARCH 12: Pierre Gasly of France and Scuderia AlphaTauri prepares to drive in the garage during Day One of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on March 12, 2021 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202103120123 // Usage for editorial use only //
BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - MARCH 12: Pierre Gasly of France driving the (10) Scuderia AlphaTauri AT02 Honda in the Pitlane during Day One of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on March 12, 2021 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202103120108 // Usage for editorial use only //
BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - MARCH 12: Yuki Tsunoda of Japan and Scuderia AlphaTauri walks in the Paddock during Day One of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on March 12, 2021 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202103120082 // Usage for editorial use only //
“It’s great to be back on track in Bahrain and running the AT02 for the first proper test. Pierre drove for us this morning and we completed some aero mapping and runs first thing, before getting into some longer running further into the session. The car performed very well in the morning, we completed our full run-plan and had no issues. We’re obviously quite restricted with running this test, having only three days, so we went through our test plan and covered some good ground. We then swapped to Yuki in the afternoon and unfortunately it hasn’t been such a smooth afternoon, for several reasons. Firstly, the sand both on-track and in the air, made it extremely difficult – so the track was quite a lot slower to begin with. Unfortunately, we then spotted some issues in the fuel system, which were impacting most of his laps and meant we couldn’t give him any consistent runs. The session was quite compromised for him, which is a shame, but we stopped running before the chequered flag, so we could investigate the problem and fix it ahead of his running first thing tomorrow.”
