They will only be tests, but Red Bull is very scary, Ferrari not so much anymore, Mercedes is still not convincing and Aston Martin has already confirmed itself as one of the pleasant surprises of the preseason. The time table is not the only dogma on which to draw conclusions in a training session, but the ‘happy hour’ on Saturday yields too much evidence: Sergio Pérez set a time that would have earned him pole position last year by two tenths (1: 30,305) and with the same C4 compound, he led the two Ferraris by seven tenths. There are mitigating factors: Leclerc’s lap (0.719) came in the morning and Sainz’s (0.731) when it was still daylight. The Spaniard was used to the full with the race simulation (more positive than previous attempts), although the degradation seems the workhorse of this car against a sidereal RB19. Another one.
Between the two single-seaters, at the last minute, a hard-working hamilton. With the C4 it was behind the SF-23 (by two tenths). But the seven-time champion did ride the C5 in his Mercedes and surpassed the Maranello cars in the time table. The advantage of the rubber is around six tenths. The three full days at the Brackley factory are not overly conspicuous, they have been low-key and For the first time reliability has given some displeasure. They have the third car, but that doesn’t sound like good news. They already admit in public that they will win again, but not now. And the competition from behind begins to tighten… very seriously.
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An optimal race simulation
Aston Martin? They divided Saturday between Drugovich (who will possibly replace Stroll next week) and Alonso. The Spaniard took on an inconspicuous job with C3 tires and the race simulation, which was excellent (although at a more beneficial time). This AMR23 takes care of the Pirelli, it is a good sign to aspire to at least those occasional podiums. There are many variables that can be manipulated, but degradation does not deceive. There were three stints, a first with 16 laps of C3 in which the best time came at the end. In the second, he rode the C1 for 20 laps and flew again in the closing moments. For the third (C2), he nailed the 1:36. Always on the target lap set by the engineers, it seems even better.
The return with C4 was not planned, although there was a loose attempt in the middle of the afternoon that left him with the ninth time, irrelevant. At night Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri) or Magnussen (Haas) slipped in, but the track was no longer comparable. Those cars will not be in front of the two-time Spanish champion.
At that point the Alfa Romeo stands out. Bottas put him third in the table with the magical C5, but that car has been liked in everything it does. That includes race stints. The house of Sauber is preparing for the arrival of Audi in 2026 and such a round car is not surprising. Already in 2022 they were the sixth car in the World Cup and they cemented their results on a very solid first half of the season. The unknown is now in Alpine, which has done some very opaque tests, loaded with fuel and working almost exclusively on long runs. In the garage they are quite confident, they aspire to fight Aston Martin for the fourth. Who is not there, and was expected, is McLaren. There is already talk of the developments in Baku. Bad signal.
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