After Mercedes-Benz, it is Aston Martin’s turn to worry the specialist press.
Sebastian Vettel was again limited on Sunday in his preparation work, blocked in the garage this time by a loss of turbo pressure from the Mercedes-Benz powertrain.
The German was able to complete 56 laps on Sunday before the engine problem forced him to return to the pits. He finished 17th on the day, only his teammate was slower.
Vettel has only accumulated 117 laps in three days (Torontonian Nicholas Latifi did 132 in one day, Saturday). A gearbox problem had already limited Vettel’s track time on Saturday morning.
The German will have to rely on his experience to get through the first race weekend at the end of the month.
Lots of activity in the Aston Martin garage trying to fix the AMR21 engine problem, Sebastian Vettel is waiting in the car.
Photo : Twitter / Aston Martin
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Sunday morning, Lance Stroll still had the task of working in the race configuration, and did 80 laps on hard tires without trying to lower the lap times (1 min 36 s 100/1000).
The Quebecer stayed more than 7 seconds behind the fastest drivers, but once again completed the entire scheduled program. In total, he racked up 197 laps in three days, and finished 12th.
I’m happy with my mileage, and the car has potential, said Stroll. Of course, it’s not ideal to waste so much track time, but we were able to recover some of it. The strong wind made it difficult to judge the strength of the car, if it is well balanced, but I felt good, even if we lost some downforce with the new dimensions of the flat bottom. .
Red Bull as a benchmark
Lance Stroll’s former teammate Sergio Pérez, who moved to Red Bull, reminded everyone that he will have to be counted on this season, setting the best time of the morning.
Sergio Pérez in the Red Bull RB16B
Photo : Getty Images / Joe Portlock
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In the afternoon, Max Verstappen took over, and was the only one to drop below 89 seconds per lap. The Dutchman clocked an unbeatable time of 1: 28.960 on medium-hard tires to complete his preparatory practice at the top of the three-day aggregate standings.
Behind the Japanese Yuki Tsunoda in the Alpha Tauri who obtained his time on soft tires, the Spaniard Carlos Sainz finished his job in 3rd place in the Ferrari SF21, 6 tenths of a second off the reference time, with a time of 1: 29.611 (on soft tires).
Ferrari says it has filled its powertrain deficit in a straight line. Which bodes well for the 2021 season.
Charles Leclerc
Photo : Getty Images / Mark Thompson
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Charles Leclerc clocked 10th time (+1.5), but on hard tires.
A great battle is to be expected between Ferrari and Red Bull during the first grand prix of the season, scheduled for the end of the month. Will Mercedes-Benz be the arbiter?
Lewis Hamilton once again struggled with the seemingly temperamental W12 on Sunday.
The world champion clocked 5th in 1: 30.025 on soft tires, and finished his job at the end of his 54 laps more than a second behind Red Bull.
His teammate Valtteri Bottas was clearly on a racing mission on Sunday with 84 laps on the clock in the morning to check the reliability of the W12. He stayed more than 3 seconds behind the best times.
Red Bull is a different animal this season, with two very strong drivers and a very good car, Hamilton said. It’s great to see that McLaren also looks strong just like Renault. It means we’re going to have fun.
Williams is progressing
The British team have shown that the FW43B has potential. Torontonian Nicholas Latifi and his teammate George Russell swallowed the miles and set encouraging times.
Nicholas Latifi in the Williams FW43B
Photo : Getty Images / Clive Mason
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The Briton, who was on Sunday, completed 158 laps and finished his job with the 6th fastest time in 1: 30.117 on soft tires.
On Saturday, Latifi had completed 132 laps, and a time of 1: 31.672 on soft tires. Which makes 290 laps in two days. Team test driver Roy Nissany had made 83 on Friday.
This shows that the FW43B is reliable and efficient, as noted by Nicholas Latifi, joined by Radio-Canada Sports.
Already last year, the car was reliable, and we are seeing it again this year, which makes us optimistic, explained the Torontonian, born in Montreal. The few technical changes (at the level of the flat bottom) force us to rework the balance, but the car is quite similar, and for any driver, the continuity allows to improve.
On Saturday, my schedule didn’t call for me to be in attack mode, and it was very windy, he recalls. Conditions were better today (Sunday). There is indeed an improvement in performance, and the objective this season is to get closer to the midfield. But since we don’t know what the other teams have done, it’s still too early to say if we’ve taken a step forward.
, he concluded, cautiously.
AlphaTauri and Alfa Romeo are the teams that have run the most, with 422 laps on the clock on the Sakhir circuit. Conversely, Mercedes-Benz is the team that has turned the least, with 304 laps accumulated.
Combined classification of the three days (total number of laps):
- 1. Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull-Honda) 1:28,960 (205 tours)
- 2. Yuki Tsunoda (JPN / AlphaTauri-Honda) 1: 29,053 (185 tours)
- 3. Carlos Sainz son (ESP / Ferrari) 1: 29.611 (192 laps)
- 4. Kimi Raikkonen (ITA/Alfa Romeo-Sauber-Ferrari) 1:29,766 (229 tours)
- 5. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes-Benz) 1:30,025 (154 tours)
- 6. George Russell (GBR/Williams-Mercedes-Benz) 1:30,117 (158 tours)
- 7. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS / McLaren-Mercedes-Benz) 1: 30,144 (173 tours)
- 8. Sergio Pérez (MEX / Red Bull-Honda) 1: 30.187 (166 laps)
- 9. Valtteri Bottas (FIN / Mercedes-Benz) 1: 30.289 (150 laps)
- 10. Fernando Alonso (ESP/Alpine-Renault) 1:30,318 (206 tours)
- 11. Pierre Gasly (FRA / AlphaTauri-Honda) 1: 30,413 (237 laps)
- 12. Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin-Mercedes-Benz) 1:30,460 (197 tours)
- 13. Charles Leclerc (MON / Ferrari) 1: 30.486 (212 laps)
- 14. Lando Norris (GBR / McLaren-Mercedes-Benz) 1: 30,586 (154 tours)
- 15. Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA / Alfa Romeo-Sauber-Ferrari) 1: 30,760 (193 tours)
- 16. Esteban Ocon (FRA-Alpine/Renault) 1:31,310 (190 tours)
- 17. Nikita Mazepin (RUS/Haas-Ferrari) 1:31,531 (213 tours)
- 18. Nicholas Latifi (CAN/Williams-Mercedes-Benz) 1:31,672 (132 tours)
- 19. Mick Schumacher (GER / Haas-Ferrari) 1: 32.053 (181 tours)
- 20. Sebastian Vettel (GER / Aston Martin-Mercedes-Benz) 1: 33,742 (117 tours)
- 21. Roy Nissany (reserve driver) (ISR / Williams-Mercedes-Benz) 1: 34.789 (83 laps)
Number of laps per team:
- AlphaTauri 422
- Alfa Romeo-Sauber 422
- Ferrari 404
- Alpine 396
- Haas 394
- Williams 373
- Red Bull 371
- McLaren 327
- Aston Martin 314
- Mercedes-Benz 304
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