Russell said goodbye to the Brahein tests with the best time on the third day of training, and Verstappen achieved a second place that camouflaged the bad image that Red Bull had left during the three days of training. Albon achieved the third best time of the day and Carlos Sainz took the best time of the three days, confirming that Williams had done their homework over the winter.
The F1 pre-season tests conclude
The work is done, at least on the track, and now all that remains is the work in the garages and offices to prepare the cars for the start of the Formula 1 World Championship next Sunday, March 16, with the first Grand Prix to be held in Australia.
These three days of testing leave us with almost no certainties, but they do give us a first glimpse of what we can expect in 2025, where equality at the top and in the middle promises to make the longest world championship in history a fun one. Everything indicates that McLaren and Ferrari will fight for the constructors’ championship, we’ll see about the drivers’, and that Aston Martin and Williams have stepped up.
Williams, the big surprise
There is no doubt that one of the pieces of good news to come out of these tests is the performance of Williams. They leave Bahrain with the best time of the three days of the season, set by Carlos Sainz , who stopped the clock at 1:29.348. But it’s not just about the Madrid driver, as Alex Albon finished with the third best time of the day, stopping the clock at 1:29.650.
This confirms the step forward for the legendary British team, a clear candidate to fight with Aston Martin as the fifth team on the grid.
Ferrari and McLaren, the strongest
The way 2024 ended is how it looks like 2025 is going to start. Ferrari and McLaren seem to be the strongest teams. McLaren flexed its muscles on the second day of practice, where they blew away in the race simulation and showed that the car has not lost potential, as expected, compared to last year. It is a clear candidate to repeat its triumph in the constructors’ world championship.
For its part, Ferrari has kept a low profile. It seems that they didn’t want to make any noise (they’ll do that with the drivers’ war during the season) and that they have kept things under wraps until the start of the World Championship.
Hamilton and Leclerc have been consistently in similar times at the top of the rankings. The only but is for Hamilton in the last practice session, as he missed the last hour and the reasons for Ferrari’s absence are unknown.
Red Bull disappoints
Verstappen has tried to make up for a very poor pre-season for Christian Horner’s team with the fastest time on Friday, but even that was not enough, as Russell took the fastest time in the final minutes of the session. We can’t rule out the team that has dominated this era, but it seems that only Verstappen’s expertise can keep the team from sinking. He is a clear candidate for the drivers’ championship, but it doesn’t look like the team can fight for the world championship.
Aston Martin, license to dream
Fernando Alonso, who finally took part in the final hour of the afternoon session on the third day of testing, confirmed the step forward of AMR25, a faster car, especially in corners, and aims to be in the fight for points, but the team has shown problems with wear and tear and with the car itself, being one of the teams that has done the least amount of running over the three days.
Everything is now ready for the start of the Formula 1 World Championship. In two weeks’ time we will see if the tests are a reflection of what is to come.