F1 News
2022 F1 Testing Day Three Report | Mercedes quick, work for McLaren to do
- Cameron Smith
Mercedes end the first three days of testing ahead of the 2022 F1 season as the quickest car on the grid. The Silver Arrows experienced a stellar Friday, with George Russell the quickest in the morning session, and Lewis Hamilton the fastest of all. Not only that, but Toto Wolff's team also completed the most laps of any, with Russell and Hamilton combining for over 150 laps during the day.
So, Mercedes are clearly looking a good bet for the Constructors' Championship, although not much can be read into these first three days of testing.
As for the rest of the day, it was firmly split into two. The morning session was all about red flags, with five in total, while the afternoon gave drivers the chance to test out the new Pirelli wet weather and intermediate weather tyres. The lunch break was spent ensured the track was wet, although it dried it fairly quickly, and after 90 minutes of the session slick tyres returned.
Despite the tricky conditions, no red flags were brought out in the afternoon, perhaps showing the drivers have adapted well to the circumstances in their brand new cars.
While Mercedes were the outright quickest, Red Bull followed them closely in P3 and P4. Sergio Perez, who drove in the afternoon, went quicker than Max Verstappen, although the difference was marginal at just 0.2 seconds.
Sebastian Vettel's problem in the morning meant Aston Martin weren't able to conduct any running in the afternoon session, but they weren't the only team. Alpine, AlphaTauri and Haas also didn't make it to the track, leaving just six teams who managed to record data in the final session of the shakedown.
McLaren were looking strong with Lando Norris on Thursday, but fell slightly short on Friday, with the Brit ending the day in P11, just behind his teammate Daniel Ricciardo in P10 - work to do for the Woking-based team.
While McLaren struggled slightly, Williams found pace, with both Nicholas Latifi and Alex Albon impressing. The Thai driver took the reigns for the afternoon session, and clocked in an impressive 88 laps, with his best time of 1:20.318 good enough for P8. His teammate Latifi was one place behind in P9.
The Ferrari drivers were just ahead in P6 and P7, with Charles Leclerc edging out Carlos Sainz by two tenths.
Valtteri Bottas brought up the rear, and only completed 10 laps in a slightly worrying day for Alfa Romeo.