Sakhir, March 3, 2023 – Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz completed their scheduled free practice program on Friday ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix, the first race of the 2023 World Championship. In total, the two drivers completed 92 laps in their SF-23s in preparation for tomorrow’s qualifying and Sunday’s race, both of which start at 18:00 (16:00 CET).
FP1: In the first session, both riders only ran medium tires and each started with a different rear wing specification for comparison. After the first run, Charles’ car was moved to the same wing as Carlos, who took a new set of Mediums. But he had a slip and had to come back for a tire change. At that point, Charles was setting his best time of 1:34”257, while Carlos had to settle for the 1:36”072 he clocked on his first set of tires as both riders have since run on more fuel. . 17 laps for Leclerc, 21 for Sainz.
FP2: In this session, both drivers started on soft tires to make the most of the same track conditions as tomorrow’s qualifying. Charles stopped the clock at 1:31:367 and Carlos at 1:31:956 despite a slight error. They then spent the rest of the session in race configuration. Leclerc completed 26 laps and Sainz 28. Another free practice session will take place before tomorrow’s qualifier at 2:30 p.m. (12:30 p.m. CET).
Charles Leclerc #16
Our first day of free practice went OK. We completed a lot of laps and I feel more and more comfortable in the car, which is positive. It is still difficult to tell where we stand as everyone seems to have been running very different plans, but we are focusing on ourselves and will keep pushing in the right direction.
Carlos Sainz #55
A trickier Friday than we initially expected. The balance was different and we were changing the car through the sessions to try and correct its main limitations. It’s only Friday and I’m confident we can analyse everything overnight and take a step forward tomorrow.