[MontyB1]

The talk stops, the Actual, well maybe cars are going to hit the track and we might get the first view of who looks good and who is going to struggle.

Merc looks average to my eyes, Ferrari looks brilliant, Aston Martin could be the wild card with some funky features and the rest, well let’s see. Red Bull, well they are a bit camera shy so we will see the real car later this week.

What are the testing times ?
Day 1: Thursday 23 February 7am-4:30pm GMT (10am-7.30pm local time)
Day 2: Friday 24 February 7am-4:30pm GMT (10am-7.30pm local time)
Day 3: Saturday 25 February 7am-4:30pm GMT (10am-7.30pm local time)

Where can I watch it?

Can I watch pre-season testing?

F1 will broadcast the entire Bahrain test on Sky Sports F1 in the United Kingdom and Ireland, plus on F1 TV in territories where it is available.

Bahrain F1 test: 23-25 February
Channels: Sky Sports F1 (UK and Ireland only)
Start time: 6:50am GMT, each day 23-25 February
Channel numbers - Sky: 406
Channel numbers - Virgin Media: 506

Motorsport.com, Sky and a few others will all have live txt coverage and a few pics for those that can’t watch.

Then only a small wait until the first race of the season. Can’t wait, should be a fun season.

[TheBingoBalls]

We’ll see who’s sandbagging and who isn’t.

[Killed by Death]

Stroll will miss testing due to injury. Dip$hit wrecked his bike training in Spain.

[Killed by Death]

Originally Posted by TheBingoBalls

We’ll see who’s sandbagging and who isn’t.

With only 3 days of testing I wouldn't waste time playing mind games. But somebody probably will.

[Autobacs]

Originally Posted by Killed by Death

Stroll will miss testing due to injury. Dip$hit wrecked his bike training in Spain.

It's a good thing ALO will do all the testing instead.

[MontyB1]

Originally Posted by Killed by Death

Stroll will miss testing due to injury. Dip$hit wrecked his bike training in Spain.

Yeah not great is it does anyone know what has actually done? I presume he hasn't actually broken something or that would be a few races missed. Not the best start but that AM does have some interesting design elements that 'could' be quite good, we shall see.

[MontyB1]

Right I think we need to see some early predictions.

Red Bull - they are going to continue to be very quick
Ferrari - I think there could be a chance they start the fastest like last year but let's see how the season goes.
Mercedes - Slow start, less bouncing but still issues, the side pods will change dramatically after the first race or two and will get an uptick in performance.
Aston Martin - They could definitely need to be the dark horse, the sculpted side pods look really interesting and there are a few other features that could move them forwards.
McLaren - It looks decidedly average a copy of RB elements and Lando isn't going to get the car he wants this year.
Alpine - some interesting elements on the car and they say they have solved the engine reliability issues so could they be looking at best of the rest?
Alfa Romeo - again some interesting elements and an overall good looking car but are they going to keep development low to focus on a 2026 push, too early to tell.
Williams - Well they can't get much worse, ex-Merc now running the team and will there be a closed parts purchase from Merc and some carry over knowledge it could help them get closer to the rest of the field but they have a LONG way to go.


Design trends - I suspect we will see lots of S-duct copies from Ferrari coming in the early season updates especially if the car looks quick. Nobody has really seen Red Bull yet so as soon as they do I'm sure there will be a few component copies of things they are trying appearing later in the season.

Will the bouncing all be gone, NO, it will come and go as they all try to get as much as they can out of the cars but it will certainly be less as they all get to manage it better as time goes on.

[MontyB1]

[MontyB1]

If anyone wants to look at some god analysis of the cars pre-season Peter Windsor and Scarbs do a good job of showing some of the potential new things and what they might mean.

These are nearly all on renders not the real car so it will be interesting what the real cars look like on Wednesday.

https://www.youtube.com/@peterwindsor/videos

[MontyB1]

All happening tomorrow can't wait.

Latest info on the running order. All teams except Red Bull are switching drivers morning to afternoon, RB are having the Max show on Day 1.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/f...h-it/10434259/

Who is going to be quick then? Who is going to have the reliability issues and who importantly will be sandbagging and only show the full car on the last day. Oh and what about aero rakes, we will see a LOT of those over the next few days.

[MontyB1]

Some live blogs for those that can't get the live coverage. Mostly all normal so far but with an early issue with Aston Martin the cause a 30min delay to action.

Dimples in Ferrari nose under max stress is a talking point but Ferrari are going to fix it, yes the carbon is so thin there is is being pressed in by the air pressure on the nose. Red Bull all looks fairly normal nothing truly ground breaking. Will post some analysis videos later.

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/18217...n-bahrain.html

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/live-t...18052/1118053/

https://www.skysports.com/f1/live-bl...for-first-time

https://the-race.com/live-f1-testing...in-2023-day-1/

[NYG]

Merc looks like a porpoising chit box again.

Top speeds indicate similar standings with Ferrari moving closer to RB

[3798j]

Fiirst Test Day Leaderboard

Verstappen, Red Bull, 1m32.837s - 157 laps
Alonso, Aston Martin, 1m32.866s - 60 laps
Sainz, Ferrari, 1m33.253s - 72 laps
Leclerc, Ferrari, 1m33.257s - 64 laps
Norris, McLaren, 1m33.462s - 40 laps
Hamilton, Mercedes, 1m33.508s - 83 laps
Albon, Williams, 1m33.671s - 74 laps
Zhou, Alfa Romeo, 1m33.723s - 67 laps
Russell, Mercedes, 1m34.174s - 69 laps
Sargeant, Williams, 1m34.324s - 75 laps
Hulkenberg, Haas, 1m34.424s - 51 laps
Bottas, Alfa Romeo, 1m34.558s - 71 laps
De Vries, AlphaTauri, 1m34.559s - 85 laps
Drugovich, Aston Martin, 1m34.564s - 40 laps
Tsunoda, AlphaTauri, 1m34.671s - 46 laps
Gasly, Alpine, 1m34.822s - 60 laps
Ocon, Alpine, 1m34.871s - 53 laps
Piastri, McLaren, 1m34.888s - 52 laps
Magnussen, Haas, 1m35.087s - 57 laps

[MontyB1]

Originally Posted by NYG

Merc looks like a porpoising chit box again.

Top speeds indicate similar standings with Ferrari moving closer to RB

You haven’t been watching then no?

[NYG]

Originally Posted by MontyB1

You haven’t been watching then no?

I have.

You guys were telling me the same thing when I told you last year's practice that Merc was going to be garbage too. lol

[3798j]

"Mercedes is confident it is in a totally different place with its 2023 Formula 1 car compared to last year, after reporting ‘no bouncing’ on the opening day of testing."
Asked by Motorsport.com if there had been any porpoising at all, Wolff said: “No, we haven’t seen any bouncing."

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur said: “It’s not at all as it was one year ago with the car bouncing like a kangaroo."

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/m...-car/10435457/

[M3WC]

There was still some bouncing by just about all the teams, solely down to a big bump around turn 12. Otherwise it is no where near last year.

The 15mm raised ride height regulation has helped most of the teams suffering with porpoising.

[ksa]

I am hoping Merc is sandbagging and when the season starts they come out swinging and leave everyone, especially RBR/verstappen in the dust. One can hope.

[ksa]

Originally Posted by 3798j

Fiirst Test Day Leaderboard

Verstappen, Red Bull, 1m32.837s - 157 laps
Alonso, Aston Martin, 1m32.866s - 60 laps
Sainz, Ferrari, 1m33.253s - 72 laps
Leclerc, Ferrari, 1m33.257s - 64 laps
Norris, McLaren, 1m33.462s - 40 laps
Hamilton, Mercedes, 1m33.508s - 83 laps
Albon, Williams, 1m33.671s - 74 laps
Zhou, Alfa Romeo, 1m33.723s - 67 laps
Russell, Mercedes, 1m34.174s - 69 laps
Sargeant, Williams, 1m34.324s - 75 laps
Hulkenberg, Haas, 1m34.424s - 51 laps
Bottas, Alfa Romeo, 1m34.558s - 71 laps
De Vries, AlphaTauri, 1m34.559s - 85 laps
Drugovich, Aston Martin, 1m34.564s - 40 laps
Tsunoda, AlphaTauri, 1m34.671s - 46 laps
Gasly, Alpine, 1m34.822s - 60 laps
Ocon, Alpine, 1m34.871s - 53 laps
Piastri, McLaren, 1m34.888s - 52 laps
Magnussen, Haas, 1m35.087s - 57 laps

Did Perez not participate?

[3798j]

Originally Posted by ksa

Did Perez not participate?

Yep.
"Red Bull confirmed defending champion Max Verstappen will be in the new RB19 all day Thursday, and Friday afternoon."
"Sergio Perez will take the wheel on Friday morning, and then drive the full day on Saturday."

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...9kXIO3WYQ.html

[MontyB1]

Nobody was struggling today no bouncing, the only ones that looked decidedly average was McLaren.

[TheBingoBalls]

Originally Posted by ksa

I am hoping Merc is sandbagging and when the season starts they come out swinging and leave everyone, especially RBR/verstappen in the dust. One can hope.

Very wishful thinking. There’s only so much you can do with the current regulations and cost cap - you almost have to get it right at the start or you’re almost always playing catch up.

This is going to be the same when the new engine regulations kick in. One manufacturer is going to nail the engine while the rest will be playing catch up.