Bahrain pre-season test: Day three “We can improve further, but it’s been a positive few days overall”
Bahrain International Circuit, Friday, 23 February
Hear from McLaren Formula 1 drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, as well as Team Principal Andrea Stella, after day three of pre-season testing.
| Laps/km/miles | 20 (67.257 miles/108.240 km) |
| Fastest lap | 1m32.108s (14th) |
“Final day of testing done. I’m happy with what we’ve achieved over the last three days and feeling ready for the start of the season. We encountered one or two setbacks here and there, but that is to be expected during pre-season testing. The important thing is we have a good understanding of the car now, we have plenty of data to go over and will come back stronger for the race next weekend. Overall, positive signs and we have a better understanding of the work we have to do. Bring on race week!”
| Laps/km/miles | 91 (306.020 miles/492.492 km) |
| Fastest lap | 1m31.030s (7th) |
“That’s the end of testing. We had a smooth, fun session today and got plenty of laps on the board, which was good. We’re in decent shape and more or less where we expected to be, but we still have some work to do. It was useful to get some race sim work done today, we rarely get to practice doing races in testing, so it was nice to have that opportunity. We’ll see what everybody’s got next week and that will give much more of an indication as to where we are. I’m excited and ready for the first race.”
“Over the last two seasons, winter testing has been inconsistent with several reliability issues, and we didn’t feel we approached the first race very prepared. This year the situation is much improved, we approached pre-season testing more prepared and this confirms the positive journey of the team. Having said that, we couldn’t do all of the laps that we had planned due to red flags, a fuel system problem yesterday and another problem today. We can improve further, but it’s been a positive few days overall.
“Going into the Bahrain Grand Prix we have to be prudent because some teams seem to have made a good step over the winter and Bahrain is not the ideal track layout for our car. We will find out where we are in qualifying next Saturday.
“I would like to thank the entire team trackside, back at the Woking and our colleagues at HPP for their strong efforts and work throughout the test and in getting us to this point. It’s been a long few days but we now take the time to rest, reset and review everything ahead of the first race next week.”
Look the part!
Today's official testing times
| 1 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:30.322s | 74 laps |
| 2 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:30.368s | 67 laps |
| 3 | Zhou Guanyu | Sauber | 1:30.647s | 85 laps |
| 4 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | 1:30.755s | 66 laps |
| 5 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | 1:30.755s | 53 laps |
| 6 | Alex Albon | Willams | 1:30.984s | 121 laps |
| 7 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:31.030s | 91 laps |
| 8 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:31.159s | 75 laps |
| 9 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1:31.247s | 71 laps |
| 10 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull Racing | 1:31.483s | 53 laps |
| 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 1:31.686s | 89 laps |
| 12 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:31.999s | 49 laps |
| 13 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:32.038s | 46 laps |
| 14 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:32.108s | 20 laps |
| 15 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1:32.149s | 47 laps |
| 16 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1:33.053s | 80 laps |
| 17 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 1:33.079s | 55 laps |
| 18 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber | 1:33.528s | 28 laps |
| 19 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | 1:37.015s | 70 laps |
Test dates
Three days (21 - 23 February, 2024).
