Formula 1 Pre-Season Testing: Antonelli Quickest on Day Two

The Italian driver’s teammate, George Russell, was fastest on Wednesday as the third and final pre-season test kicked off in Bahrain.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was second-quickest on Thursday, with four-time world champion Max Verstappen rounding off the top three.

Ferrari’s radical new wing concept turns heads

Verstappen also completed the most laps on Thursday, totalling 139. Alpine’s Franco Colapinto completed 120, and Williams’ Alex Albon lapped the Bahrain International Circuit 117 times.

Audi driver Gabriel Borteleto drove the fewest laps on Thursday, completing 29 laps. The Brazilian’s teammate, Nico Hulkenberg, drove 73 laps for the German team.

However, much of the attention was placed on Ferrari’s new wing concept, which was on display for the second day. According to F1.com’s contributor Mark Hughes, the SF-26 uses a “radical flip rear wing element, which rotates itself upside down in straight line mode.”

The wing spins around when entering the straight-mode zones and is markedly different from its previous movement. It’s unclear if the innovation affects performance down the straights, as Lewis Hamilton finished fourth-quickest on day two.

Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur said the new wing concept might be used at the season opener in Australia from March sixth to eighth or in China a week later.

Honda issue statement after Alonso’s Thursday run cut short

Meanwhile, things went from bad to worse for Aston Martin on Thursday. Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso suffered an issue on Turn 4 and had to stop his car shortly thereafter.

The team was late to testing at the Barcelona shakedown event and struggled in pre-season testing in Bahrain last week.

Those poor performances led Lance Stroll to admit the team was as much as “four and a half seconds” behind the leading pack.

The team’s engine supplier, Honda, stated on the back of the latest issue: “Our last run with Fernando Alonso yesterday showed a battery-related issue that impacted our test plan with the Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 Team.

“Since then, we have been carrying out simulations on the test bench in HRC Sakura. Due to this and the shortage of power unit parts, we have adapted today’s run plan to be very limited and consist only of short stints.”

The team’s owner, Lawrence Stroll, recruited renowned F1 car designer Adrian Newey. Thus far, the AMR26 has been marred by issues.

The final day of pre-season testing takes place today.