Only 8 days before the start of the 2023 Formula 1 World Cup, all eyes are pointing to two focuses of attention: the dominance that Max Verstappen begins to exhibit with Red Bull, and the surprising but consistent irruption of Fernando Alonso's Aston Martin. The Dutchman led the time table on the second day of testing -although in the last half hour Zhou took the best time wearing new C5 soft rubber-, and the Spaniard was back on top, second time of the day (third if counting the del chino), with very good sensations that revalidated the good taste of the first day.
In the first half of the day, with daylight and a hot track, Carlos Sainz was the fastest with the Ferrari SF-23. He set a 1m32s486 on the medium compound (C3), a time that cut Verstappen's best time on the first day by 4 tenths.
The Madrid driver rode solidly with his new Ferrari, with which he was able to complete 70 laps and close the morning at the top of the time table. He led rookie Logan Sargeant (Williams) by 63 thousandths, while Fernando Alonso, who monopolized the entire day with Aston Martin, was 4 tenths behind Ferrari, with 64 initial laps. For a few moments, the two Spaniards commanded the time table.
The greats were discreet in time trial in the morning, with set-up tests: the Red Bull, in the hands of Checo Pérez, was 7th fastest, 1s265 behind Sainz, and the Mercedes, with Lewis Hamilton, was 8th. , at 1s468.
In the afternoon session, Red Bull handed over the wheel of his car to Max Verstappen, who at the first change set the best time of the day, a sensational 1m31s863 (with C3 medium compound), which meant distancing himself to 6 tenths of Sainz.
A time that the Dutchman would lower again, to 1m31s650 in a new twist of his power; It meant that, with just 20 laps, the two-time champion was capable of moving more than 8 tenths away from his closest rival. An intimidating blow.
As it got dark in Bahrain and the temperature dropped, with a clear improvement on the track, the times picked up: Alonso stormed second position twice, coming within 555 thousandths of the Dutchman.
The other rookie was also encouraged, Nyck de Vries (Alpha Tauri), who provisionally placed second with the softest rubber, and ultimately the Chinese Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo) did it, who, doing a qualifying simulation, set the crushed to remove the best time of the day from Verstappen by only 40 thousandths, although, of course, wearing supersoft tires that will not be used in the inaugural GP.
The preseason tests for this 2023 end this Saturday with the third day at the Sajir circuit, in Bahrain.
1. Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo), 1m31s610
2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull), a 0s040
3. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), a 0s595
4. Nyck de Vries (Alpha Tauri), a 0s612
5. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas), a 0s856
6. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), at 0.876
7. Logan Sargeant (Williams), a 0s939
8. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), a 1s115
9. Oscar Piastri (McLaren), a 1s565
10. Pierre Gasly (Alpine), a 1s576
11. Kevin Magnussen (Haas), a 1s832
12. Esteban Ocon (Alpine), a 1s880
13. George Russell (Mercedes), a 2s044
14. Sergio Pérez (Red Bull), 2s141 behind
15. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), a 2s344
16. Lando Norris (McLaren), a 3s912
17. Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri), a 4s098
