Carlos Sainz Jnr, Ferrari, Bahrain International Circuit, 2022

Sainz spars with Verstappen on way to fastest time of day five

2022 F1 season

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Carlos Sainz Jnr put Ferrari back on top of the times for the penultimate day of testing in Bahrain after a brief battle with Max Verstappen on track.

Sainz’s 1’33.532 on C4 tyres was the quickest time of the opening two days of the Bahrain test at the end of scheduled running, making Ferrari the first team to finish fastest on multiple days of pre-season testing. Combined with Charles Leclerc, Ferrari also covered the furthest distance of any team, bar AlphaTauri.

Max Verstappen was just under half a second off the Ferrari, also on the C4 tyres. In the final hour, Sainz and Verstappen had briefly engaged in an impromptu on-track battle for half a lap, passing each other multiple times around the final sector, along the main straight and on the run to turn four.

However, following the chequered flag, Kevin Magnussen took advantage of a clear track and fresh soft tyres to set the overall fastest time of the day with a 1’33.207 during the additional hour of running allotted to Haas for the evening.

After Esteban Ocon had gone quickest in the morning session, Alpine’s afternoon running was curtailed when Ocon pulled off the circuit at turn 12, bringing out the red flags. Ocon’s best laptime of a 1’34.276 would see him end the day fifth fastest after Alpine were able to return him to the track for a handful more laps.

Lance Stroll took over the Aston Martin AMR22 from Sebastian Vettel, covering well over a race distance in the four hour session and setting the third fastest time along the way. George Russell stepped into the Mercedes W13 for the afternoon session as the sunlight made way for floodlights as he completed 67 laps of the circuit.

As Lando Norris ran a second consecutive full day, he brought out the red flags briefly after he stopped his McLaren on the exit of the pitlane. However, he was quickly returned to the circuit after McLaren identified and fixed the problem.

After an exhaust problem limited Mick Schumacher’s running in the morning session, Kevin Magnussen was able to take his first laps behind the wheel of the Haas VF-22 after his return to Formula 1 was confirmed.

Magnussen completed 39 laps by the chequered flag, however he and Haas have been permitted to run for an extra hour this evening to help make up for the four hours of running they lost by missing the morning session on Thursday due to a freight delay. Magnussen used the additional hour to run 20 further laps and set the ultimate fastest time of the day, three tenths faster than Sainz set during the scheduled test time.

Zhou Guanyu was the slowest of the 15 drivers who took part in the day, the rookie driver completing 48 laps and setting a quickest time over six seconds slower than Sainz’s ultimate pace.

There will be one final day of running at the Bahrain circuit tomorrow, before the season-opening race at the venue next weekend.

2022 F1 pre-season testing day five times:

Pos.Car numberDriverTeamModelBest timeGapLaps
155Carlos Sainz JnrFerrariF1-751’33.53255
21Max VerstappenRed BullRB181’34.0110.47984
318Lance StrollAston MartinAMR221’34.0640.53269
444Lewis HamiltonMercedesW131’34.1410.60947
531Esteban OconAlpineA5221’34.2760.744111
616Charles LeclercFerrariF1-751’34.3660.83454
74Lando NorrisMcLarenMCL361’34.6091.07760
85Sebastian VettelAston MartinAMR221’36.0202.48846
920Kevin MagnussenHaasVF-221’36.505*2.97339
1022Yuki TsunodaAlphaTauriAT031’36.8023.270120
1177Valtteri BottasAlfa RomeoC421’36.9873.45525
1247Mick SchumacherHaasVF-221’37.8464.31423
1363George RussellMercedesW131’38.5855.05367
146Nicholas LatifiWilliamsFW441’39.8456.31312
1524Guanyu ZhouAlfa RomeoC421’39.9846.45248

*Magnussen set the overall fastest lap of the day – 1’33.207 – during Haas’ exclusive extra hour of running

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Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

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15 comments on “Sainz spars with Verstappen on way to fastest time of day five”

  1. @willwood could we get the tyre compound used to set the Best Time in the table above?

  2. Their little battle was funny.

  3. While I generally like the look of the new cars having watched the live coverage over the last 2 days i’ve just not really enjoyed watching them on track. Maybe i’ll get used to it as we get into the season but right now there just lacking something for me because they just look a bit slow & cumbersome rather than quick, nimble & dynamic as F1 cars did in the past.

    I think it’s probably likely a combination of the size, weight & that ground effects is less effective at slow speeds but I think these new cars look awful in the slower speed corners as they just don’t seem to have any front end grip.

    They just look so cumbersome & none of them really look like they want to turn into the slowest corners like turns 1/8/10 & they also at times look a bit odd going through turns 13/14. It’s like they turn in fine but then once the speed scrubs off around the apex & drivers want to start getting on the throttle they just sort of start to wash out in an odd way.

    Think they all look a bit silly with how stiff they have to be now as well. It’s something I always felt when watching stuff from the late 70s/early 80s when those ground effects cars would be bouncing around, Just looks a bit silly. And then when they start to suffer from porpoising I think it just looks ridiculous.

    1. Agree. I think it’s because of heavy weight.

  4. Seems that Magnussen made 1.33.2 in the extra time Haas have.

  5. KMag actually went fastest now in the Haas on a 1:33.207! It’s either on a C4 or C5, unfortunately the graphics on F1’s live timing (desktop version) don’t distinguish between the two softest compounds.

    As for the rest of today’s running, the trends from yesterday carried over to today.
    Ferrari being very quick out of the box on their long runs, but still having some difficulties with tyre wear. However it did seem better than yesterday, with Sainz setting consistently fast laps on the opening stint of his race sim on the C3.
    Mercedes continue to impress with their consistency on their longer runs. Again they were running very conservative engine modes during their high fuel runs, which is why they looked comparatively slower on pure pace. Hamilton did push more on his lower fuel runs on the C4 and C5 (top speeds were similar to Sainz’s), but I suspect he had more fuel onboard.
    The RB looked better today in the hands of Max Verstappen, than it did yesterday with Checo Pérez. Fast on lower fuel, reasonably consitent on high fuel. Let’s see what they can do tomorrow, once they put their latest upgrades onto the car.
    McLaren need to solve their brake issues as quickly as possible! The car looks fast, but their problems are setting them back and costing them a lot of mileage.
    The midfield is going to be even more mad than it was in the previous years. Alpha Tauri, Alpine, Haas, Aston Martin, Alfa Romeo and possibly even Williams look very similar on pace. A small error could make the difference between P9 and P20 on the grid in this tight pack.

    1. Evening,

      Apparently the time was set on the C3 tire, which completely throws everything we have seen today out of the window. I genuinely have absolutely no idea who will be on pole next weekend. No one seems quite happy with their packages yet.

      1. Thanks for the update! It looks very hard to read indeed, but I wouldn’t bet against Ferrari locking out the front row next week.

      2. The only place I’ve seen it confirmed is autosport where Kmag’s time is showing as set on the C4 soft.

        1. F1TV confirmed it was a lap on C4, as were the laptimes of Sainz and Verstappen.

    2. Yes, it says Medium yellow in screen. So it is indeed a C3. Sainz did a 1:33:9 in C3

  6. Was Magnussen on unbelievably low fuel or was it genuine Haas pace? Amazing!

    1. @pt both? They invested all last year into this car, I think we’re forgetting they have had some decent cars because last season was horrific! Cooler conditions would have also helped with laptime.

  7. I’m a bit worried about Alfa, they’re struggling for mileage and desperately need it! Williams could also do with more mileage but their car at least looks quick when it’s running.

    Everyone else looking pretty competitive (McLaren do need to sort brakes!), could be a really tight midfield and I’m expecting/hoping that driver skill is going to be more important than it has been in years!

    The front of the grid, who knows? I wouldn’t be surprised if Mercedes or Ferrari dominate constructors. I feel that Perez is the weakest of the drivers in the top 3 teams and that’s going to hurt more this year when a wingman may make or break titles. Can’t wait!

  8. Glory run until proven guilty

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