2023 F1 Testing: Sainz tops first hour of testing
23rd February 2023Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz set the fastest time in the first hour of testing, 1.128s ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, as Aston Martin’s Felipe Drugovich brought out an early red flag.
With minutes before the pit exit light went green, to officially start the pre-season test, Mercedes’ George Russell peeled down to the pit exit line in his all-black Mercedes as the Briton was given the first run.
Russell was soon joined by Gunayu Zhou (Alfa Romeo), Alex Albon (Williams), Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri) and Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) at the pit exit.
The reigning double world champion, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen soon joined the handful of drivers out on track. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly soon drove out onto the circuit.
In usual fashion, a number of cars ventured out onto the circuit with aero rakes attached behind the front tyres to gather as much data as they could in the limited amount of testing.
With his first meaningful run in pre-season testing, Aston Martin’s reserve driver, Felipe Drugovich had to stop the car on the exit of turn four immediately after he left the pit lane. The Brazilian Formula 2 world champion was subbed in to replace Lance Stroll after the Canadian had a minor accident in pre-season training.
The session was quickly red flagged to allow track marshals to recover the AMR23.
In the short running, before the red flag, Verstapen topped the timing board ahead of Russell (second) and Sainz (third)
As the session went back to green-flag conditions, Russell once again stood at the head of the queue waiting for the pit exit light to go green. All of the available drivers venutred out onto the circuit, including Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg.
With just over 45 minutes gone, and another three and a half hours to go, Verstappen stood at the top of the timing boards with a lap time of 1:34.895, ahead of Gasly (+1.175s) and Hulkenberg (+2.165) in second and third.
However, in the latter stages of the full first hour, Sainz jumped to the top of the timing board – 1.128 seconds ahead of Verstappen. The Spaniard went out onto the circuit without aero rakes attached behind the front tyres, but the same area – on the right hand side – was covered with flow-vis paint.
After Aston Martin’s miss fortunes, at the beginning of the session, Drugovich remained inside his respective garage as the team continue to work on the AMR23. However, it remains unclear if the team will get the car back in working order before the end of the morning session.
That’s all for the article; 2023 F1 Testing: Sainz tops first hour of testing!
Read more Formula 1 here:
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- Mercedes unveil W14 as it returns to the black livery
- Ferrari reveal SF-23 in Valentine’s Day launch
- Aston Martin showcase 2023 challenger: AMR23
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
