Drivers hit the race track in Bahrain this morning, and will have 6 testing sessions across 3 days to prepare for the Formula 1 2024 season. Bahrain International Circuit is yet again host of the tests, only a couple of days before the opening round of the season, which will take place on 2nd March 2024.
Schedule of the tests
Wednesday:
10:00 – 14:00 – Morning session
14:05 – Drivers’ press conference
14:35 – Teams’ press conference
15:00 – 19:00 – Afternoon session
Thursday:
10:00 – 14:00 – Morning session
14:05 – Drivers’ press conference
14:35 – Teams’ press conference
15:00 – 19:00 – Afternoon session
Friday:
10:00 – 14:00 – Morning session
14:05 – Drivers’ press conference
14:35 – Teams’ press conference
15:00 – 19:00 – Afternoon session
(All times are local time, GMT+3)
Tech nuances
2024 Season saw only a minor changes, and most of the teams did not bring revolutionary changes to compete this year. The biggest difference can be seen in Red Bull, which brought different side pods, similar to the failed no-side pod design of Mercedes from the 2022 season. Williams and Alpine changed their front wings width, and Mercedes brought a solution which balances on the edge of legality, with differently looking front wing plates.
Different teams, same drivers
For the second time in history, and the first time since 2008, there has been no changes among drivers. The same 20 surnames, who finished the 2023 season, will start the 2024 season. But not all teams remain the same. Alpha Tauri has been rebranded and changed their name to “Visa Cash App Racing Bulls”, which quickly became the topic of jokes and memes. Now referred to as “VCARB”, the team changed their livery to one, which is closer to their Toro Rosso origins, than the previous Alpha Tauri one.
A lot of noise is surrounding the Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber, which was previously known as Alfa Romeo. The Italian manufacturer has withdrawn from the sponsorship, and the new leading sponsor are two companies from the same owner. Kick is a streaming platform, that often goes in pair with Stake – an online casino. This type of sponsorship is problematic, because in many countries promoting casinos is illegal, and the team will have to either adapt their name and livery, or pay hefty fines for violating the anti-gambling laws. The livery has also changed a lot, from the classic red colour of Alfa Romeo, accompanied by white or black (depending on the year), to black as a main colour with plenty of neon green lines and parts. For some viewers, the revolutionized livery looks amazing, others are rather sceptical. Nonetheless, everyone agrees that the name is inappropriate and does not belong to the world of Formula 1. With brands like Ferrari, Mercedes, Aston Martin and Alpine, having “Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber” sounds like a joke to all the fans.
Times don’t matter
The pre-season tests are mainly designed to let the drivers get a feeling of the new car, and for the teams to test different setups, check the aerodynamics with different rakes and vis-flow paint. Setting the fastest time in the tests does not matter at all, instead, teams focus on completing as many laps as possible and running all tests and programmes they need, to check the tyrewear, engine mapping, fuel usage and many more. As drivers swap places between the sessions and the days, with an average of 3 sessions per driver, the minimum should be 100 laps per driver, but even driving 200 will not be surprising. The more you drive, the more data you collect, and the better you can prepare for the upcoming season.
What to look for during the winter testing?
Despite not many changes in the cars, we can hunt for some close-up and slow motion shots of the bodywork, the chassis and aero packages the teams brought for the testing. You can also spot the vis-flow paint, which is used by the teams to check the air flows across the car. Another thing to keep an eye on are the new liveries. There are some real beauties across the 10 teams, and many drivers brought new helmets for this season. This is something that can be useful in the future, if some chaos occurs on the racetrack, being able to tell the difference between the teams and the drivers can be crucial for the emotions.