Oracle Red Bull Racing finished top of the timesheet at FIA Formula 1 World Championship testing in Bahrain. The current World Constructors’ Champions topped all three days of testing and will be feeling positive ahead of the first weekend of racing at the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix.
Sergio Pérez spent the whole of day three in the car, wracking in up 133 laps for the Milton Keynes outlet. He also set the fastest lap of the day as he set a 1:30.305 in the car.
Pérez said: “The last few days have been pretty intense, testing is very short, so it is very important to get the maximum out of it but overall, it worked really well; we got a good understanding of our car.
“Testing in Bahrain is very difficult because the track is changing every time you go out, the tarmac is very rough and just in general it’s varying conditions.”
This year has seen testing shrunk down to just three days, and it comes with only a week till the FIA 2023 Formula 1 World Championship season begins. Pérez praised his team after a second run in the car, and he feels confident with the RB19 that was out on track.
Pérez eased on the side of caution when it came to saying Red Bull were the front runners, as he expects the pecking order of the grid this year to be unleased at the Grand Prix this weekend.
Pérez continued by saying: “I think we did the most we could today, we did a lot of analysis on set-up and tyre choice. We ran without any big problems, got a lot of laps in, and had good reliability in general.
“The Team back in Milton Keynes have done a tremendous job, we have a good paced car and certainly think we can work on that more. We will only find out next week where we really are in terms of pace because over testing, we don’t get to see the full picture.”
The Austrian team proved to have great reliability as they had another day without issues as other teams have struggled with reliability. This bodes well for them as other teams struggled on the weekend.
Red Bull is now hoping everything they have learned about their new challenger for 2023, will transfer well into this weekend’s race. The team has seemingly transferred last year’s successful fifth world title over to this year’s car and will be aiming to take down Scuderia Ferrari and Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team once again.
However the head of Race Engineering, Gianpiero Lambiase is warning that the team will still need to improve despite their showcase of performance on the track, making it clear that if there are any issues, it will have to be a quick turnaround for the team.
Lambiase said: “A very successful end to the test with another day of uninterrupted running. Checo was able to complete a variety of test items, including a chance to get a feel for the car under conditions closer to Qualifying and the Race, which was important for his preparation.
“The start of the season is now upon us, and we have just a handful of days to analyse all of the data collected. It has been a positive three days for the team, but there are always areas for improvement, and the focus will be on trying to extract more performance gains before next week.”
It won’t be long to find out the running order, as Free Practice one will begin on Friday 4th March
