Pre-Season Testing: Day 2 Recap

Hulkenberg got his first taste of early running in Bahrain as he drove the VF-24 in the opening session of the day. The morning’s objective was to build on long-run analysis from yesterday to learn more about race performance. Hulkenberg then got to work trialing different set-ups before track surface issues caused a red flag stop.

The subsequent circuit repairs prompted an early finish to the session, and the German wrapped his morning with a tally of 31 laps on the Pirelli C3 compound.  

The afternoon program began an hour earlier than originally scheduled, giving teams back some of the time that was lost previously. Magnussen was back behind the wheel for the extended session, focusing once again on long-run performance, this time doing comparison work in cooler temperatures.

The Dane added 93 laps to Thursday’s total.  

The final day of pre-season testing ahead of Round 1 of the 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship sees Magnussen jump back behind the wheel of the VF-24 before Hulkenberg takes over in the afternoon session.  

Ayao Komatsu – Team Principal:

“Following on from yesterday, we continued our program on tire management and high-fuel performance. Nico drove in the morning, and even with the disruption he had that made the session a bit shorter, I think we got the basic answer we wanted. We handed over to Kevin in the afternoon and he ran for five hours, and it was a pretty good session again. We got lots of good data and confirmation on what we wanted to run, so I’m pretty happy with the last couple of days. Tomorrow, because we’ve had two decent days, we may change the program a little but I’m looking forward to another productive day of testing.”
 

Kevin Magnussen:

“I think it’s been another solid day for us, focusing on race runs and high-fuel performance, addressing the same issues as yesterday. Our tire issues from last year are our main focus and it’s been very interesting. I think we’ve made some progress, and for sure there’s a lot of work to do, but they’re going in the right direction. I’m not sure how fast we are, I’d be surprised if we’re in a very different position to last year, but I think we’re in slightly better condition on tires. It’s very hard to conclude from running in one set of conditions, on one track. But for now, there are positive signs on the issues from last year.”

 

Nico Hulkenberg: 

“Yesterday was quite good as it was a lot of work, a lot of laps we got in, and some quality work. This morning was cut short with the track issue they had, so we obviously lost a bit of time but so far, so good. I think we’ve got some good work done already and it seems like a step forward and an improvement compared to 12 months ago which is good news, but it’s still going to be a challenging time.”

 

Today's Data

Event: Bahrain Pre-Season Test – Thursday February 22
Location: Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir
Layout: 5.412-kilometer (3.363-mile), 15-turn track
Drivers: Nico Hulkenberg (HUL) / Kevin Magnussen (MAG)
HUL: Time / Laps / Distance: 1:37.509 / 31 laps / 167.77 kilometers (104.24 miles)
MAG: Time / Laps / Distance: 1:36.611 / 93 laps / 503.32 kilometers (312.75 miles)
Most Laps: 129 laps by Sergio Perez of Red Bull Racing