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Especially the 41-year-old Finn Kimi Räikkönen was the man of the day. He drove an incredible 166 laps (record) in the Alfa Sauber on the 5,412 km long desert highway and ultimately set off the chase after winning the test.
Drama under the spotlight
When Raikkonen out of nowhere put C41 in first place with 1: 29.766 35 minutes before the end, frenzied reactions came from everywhere. It can not be true.
Honda, in particular, disagreed with this ahead of its farewell season. So Verstappen rode the Red Bull Honda with the softest rubber to attack the slopes, and he was a little faster than the Finn.
Honda goes with a miracle engine
But everyone did the math without Japanese newcomer Yuki Tsunoda (20). The third in Formula 2 crashed the Alpha Tauri-Honda past the Dutch superstar by nearly half a second.
And what happened? Super Max fought back. And 25 minutes before the end, world champion Sir Lewis Hamilton (36) also appeared as a night ghost. At Mercedes, obviously, they didn’t want to be killed like this.
This also sparked the ambition of Ferrari, which Sainz sent into battle for test victory. But despite the upgraded engine, it wasn’t enough for the Spaniard to outrun Honda’s monsters. At least Ferrari was a little faster than Alfa Sauber, and in the end Carlos and Kimi almost shot each other. And Hamilton (fifth)? He was sick of taking a walk.
Disappointed Mercedes!
The world champion Mercedes faced many problems (transmission, balance) practically every three days due to the shortest test preparation in history. Or had the Silver Arrows simply been fooled, as in previous years? Better not.
Vettel surprised
The Greens from Aston Martin (formerly Racing Point) had waited longer and stayed in the pits for far too long. Vettel, in particular, never really got going. At one point, no doubt, you would have liked to know how fast the car is before the new adventure. But the transmission and the boost pressure died.
Ferrari with more power
Fortunately, the Maranello Reds came back stronger from the winter, the engine now has a few more horsepower than in the 2020 disaster season and sixth place in the World Championship.
But, is the improvement enough (last year 50 CV were missing) to win again? Of course, Ferrari partners Haas and Alfa Sauber also benefit from better push from the rear.
Williams is still the last!
This duo should also be able to move last place to Williams-Mercedes in 2021. The British were the only ones to let their test driver Nissany run for a day (that’s how you sell development, soul for a handful of dollars) and they also stole valuable laps from the two regulars. Russell in particular was angry at this philosophy. He wants to finally sit in the Mercedes by 2022 at the latest.
Possible surprises
Alpine (formerly Renault) with 39-year-old returnees Fernando Alonso and Alpha Tauri-Honda with Monza winner Pierre Gasly and little wonder Yuki Tsunoda will offer some highlights this year. It won’t be enough for the teams’ World Cup podium.
Mazepin against Schumi …
The first duel for supremacy in the now Russian-American Haas-Uralkali team was for Nikita Mazepin. He took out Mick Schumacher for half a second on the final day. The Russian was 30 laps less than the German. Well, that doesn’t mean much, but the exaggerated hopes surrounding the world champion son have been put into perspective. In short: Schumi has been warned!
… Kimi vor Giovinazzi
Fans of the Hinwil Formula 1 team can seem a bit more relaxed on the season. Unlike in previous years, this time the C41 spent little time in garages. With 421 laps (2,280 kilometers), the eighth of the World Championship was the longest this time.
Kimi Raikkonen especially surprised on the last day with 166 laps and a time of 1: 29.766. So he let his teammate Italo Antonio Giovinazzi (27) pass. He had completed 126 laps on Saturday, with a best time of 1: 30.760.
“Car and engine clearly better!”
The Hinwil Duel 2021 is now open. Giovinazzi: “So far I can only say that the car is definitely better and more stable at the front than last year. You can also feel more power coming from the rear! I’m curious to see what qualifying will be like after these three great and successful days! “
Half of Formula 1 vaccinated
In discussions about accepting the free vaccination offered by the Kingdom of Bahrain, it becomes increasingly clear that, in addition to Raikkonen, Pérez and Sainz, there are certainly more drivers who did not reject the offer.
And now Alpha Tauri’s boss, Franz Tost, even admitted: “Everyone here has been vaccinated. In Italy it is not known how long everything will take. “
Ferrari is grateful
The second Italo team, Ferrari, also made good use of the offer. “This opportunity will hardly be presented again,” a team member told BLICK. Sure, the vaccination chaos and the third wave in Europe are sounding alarms almost everywhere.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff (himself a victim of the crown during Christmas): “We have given our employees whether they accept the vaccine or not!”
Condition for all: Both cans of Pfizer Biontech must be injected here on the racetrack after at least 21 days.
End of 3rd day
1. Verstappen (Red Bull) 1: 28,960
2. Tsafuna (Alpha Tauri) 1: 29 053
3. Sainz (Ferrari) 1: 29.611
4. Raikkonen (Alfa Sauber) 1: 29.766
5. Hamilton (Mercedes) 1: 30.025
6. Russell (Williams) 1: 30,117
7. Ricciardo (McLaren) 1: 30,144
8. Pérez (Red Bull) 1: 30,187
9. Alonso (Alpine) 1: 30.318
10. Leclerc (Ferrari) 1: 30.486
11. Norris (McLaren) 1: 30.661
12. Gasly (Alpha Tauri) 1: 30,828
13. Ocon (Alpine) 1: 31,310
14. Mazepin (Haas) 1: 31,531
15. Schumi (Haas) 1: 32.053
16. Bottas (Mercedes) 1: 32,406
17. Vettel (Aston Martin) 1: 35,041
18. Ride (Aston Martin) 1: 36,100
3rd day, lunch break
1. Pérez (Red Bull) 1: 30,309
2. Leclerc (Ferrari) 1: 30.486
3. Norris (McLaren) 1: 30.661
4. Gasly (Alpha Tauri) 1: 30,828
5. Ocon (Alpine) 1: 31,310
6. Schumi (Haas) 1: 32.053
7. Bottas (Mercedes) 1: 32,408
8. Russell (Williams) 1: 32,731
9. Raikkonen (Alfa Sauber) 1: 35.274
10. Ride (Aston Martin) 1: 36,100
Kimi raikkonen: «From the labor point of view, it has been a positive day. We have everything we came here for and now all we have to do is see where we are when we get back in two weeks. Test times mean nothing and at the moment we don’t know how all the other teams will develop. But we know how our car works and when we feel cautious it is better than last year. I think we will be faster than our best at the end of 2020, but we will have to see if that leads to better racing performance. »
Jan Monchaux, Technical Director: “Another very productive test day, possibly the most productive of the three, to end our preseason. It was a flawless session in which we were able to achieve even more than we had set out to do: I think 422 laps in three days is a new record for our team. Kimi’s schedule for today was similar to the one we had with Antonio yesterday and we did a very good job on both our racing team and our qualifying performance. Getting a positive result today was important as the conditions were probably the most representative of what we will see during the race weekend. The results are encouraging, but we are not going to get carried away: we know that there is still a lot to do. This was just a friendly match – just a milestone on the long road to the 2021 season. We feel ready for the start of the championship and we feel better prepared than last year. The car has been reliable all week and we have improved weaknesses from 2020. We now have ten days to study all the data we have collected and achieve a little more performance both on the individual lap and on the circuit. By the time we get back here in two weeks, everyone will have upped their game and we have to be ready. »
Posted: March 14, 2021, 12:19 pm
Last updated: 14.03.2021, 4 minutes ago
