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'What the hell just happened?' was the reaction of every F1 fan that tuned in to watch the second free practice session of the Bahrain GP. A session that ended with Fernando Alonso at the top of the timesheets with Max Verstappen in second opens up the world to surprising possibilities for the 2023 F1 season.
There weren't many believers when it came to Aston Martin. Everyone agreed that the car had improved massively but not many expected the timings to be this good.
As the second 1-hour session of practice ended, we had Alonso at the top, followed by the Red Bull duo of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. At P4, we had the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and in P5, we had a surprise in Nico Hulkenberg.
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So, it was a session with a lot of thrills, spills, and surprises. Here are the key learnings from the Bahrain GP free practice session.
#1 The Aston Martin hype is real
Aston Martin answered quite a few questions about how good that green-liveried car is and the answer is - quite good. It's not always the best idea to judge a car on the basis of its one-lap pace on a Friday. There are far too many variables involved to make an informed opinion.
On the other hand, the more important aspect is how the car behaved in the long runs. It's safe to say that Aston Martin belongs in the big leagues. The car can certainly compete at the front, although the true heights still need to be discovered.
#2 Max Verstappen is not yet comfortable in his Red Bull
Max Verstappen losing his cool in the car is nothing new and it was on evidence in the FP2 of the F1 Bahrain GP as well. The driver wasn't comfortable in FP1 and ended up more than half a second behind his teammate Sergio Perez as a result. FP2 did not start as well for Verstappen either as his first run on medium tires was once again slower than Perez's.
Verstappen is a driver that will, in general, maintain around four to five-tenths of a second gap over Perez. The fact that even on his soft tire run later in the session Verstappen was marginally quicker than Perez shows that the Red Bull driver is not truly comfortable with the car.
The long-run pace still looks good for the Red Bull driver but there are still a few things that need to be ironed out.
#3 Ferrari and Mercedes turned down their PUs in the second soft tire run
To a large extent with Ferrari and a lesser extent with Mercedes, there was a level of trickery going in with how high (or low) the PU levels were in the last run. Arguably, the biggest indication was watching neither Charles Leclerc nor Carlos Sainz make much of an improvement on their second soft tire run.
The other indication was watching Nico Hulkenberg smash the timesheets with a time that was even quicker than the Ferraris. A Haas quicker than Ferrari? Surely something doesn't add up there, considering the kind of partnership the two teams have. Mercedes, to a lesser extent, did the same thing on its second run on the soft tire.
Keeping the fuel load and engine mode gibberish aside, Ferrari should be competitive in qualifying, considering how impressive its run was. Mercedes, on the other hand, is heading for a slightly underwhelming 2023 F1 Bahrain GP race weekend by the looks of it.
#4 McLaren looks better than what was expected of it
McLaren in the hands of Lando Norris is not in as bad a shape as many would have suspected. In our pecking order predictions as well, we had predicted McLaren to be the eighth fastest car on the grid at the 2023 F1 Bahrain GP. By the looks of it, that's not the case. The team might fare a bit better.
McLaren is in a fighting position in the midfield, although it remains to be seen how high the team will be.
#5 Williams and AlphaTauri are at the back as the midfield order remains a mystery
Williams and AlphaTauri appear to have missed the step that almost every other team on the grid seems to have found. The two teams will, in all likelihood, be at the back of the grid throughout the 2023 F1 Bahrain GP race weekend.
It is a bit disappointing to see, especially since Williams scored a few points last season and this year was supposed to be the next step. By the looks of it, that step hasn't come and the prospects are not that bright for either team.
#6 Lance Stroll should not be racing in the 2023 F1 Bahrain GP
Finally, Lance Stroll should not be racing in the 2023 F1 Bahrain GP. The trouble he had while trying to manage the car during the long run was as visible as it could get. The issue is not the fact that the drive could prove to be a possible hazard for himself.
He could prove to be a possible hazard for others on the grid during the race when his hands will not have the dexterity to drive at his best.
Either the team or the FIA needs to step in and stop Lance Stroll from racing in a visibly compromised manner in the 2023 F1 Bahrain GP.
