F1 testing day 3: Williams finally make progress, goes 1.8 seconds faster than 2023

Determining the gap: The fastest lap set by the driver of a respective team in 2023 on the third day of testing was compared with the fastest lap set by the quickest driver of the team this year. A quicker lap would indicate that the team’s car has improved, while a slower time would suggest that new upgrades have not worked. Testing always comes with the caveat that teams could be trying different setups, engine modes, parts, fuel loads, or tyre compounds and may not reflect the car’s true performance.

Williams’ Alexander Albon went nearly two seconds faster on the final day of Formula One preseason compared to the time he set in 2023.

The Thai driver’s time of 1m 30.984s at the Bahrain International Circuit on Friday was −1.809s faster than the 1m 32.793s he set last year on day three of testing.

Williams posted slower times on the first two days but made a strong stride on Friday.

“I do think we struggled a little bit with the car across day one and two with just how different it is, struggling to rebalance it,” said Albon. “But we made some big headway in making the car more drivable.”

McLaren concluded its testing with another great day as Oscar Piastri went a whole second faster than teammate Lando Norris’ time in 2023.

“That’s the end of testing,” said Piastri. “We had a smooth, fun session today and got plenty of laps on the board, which was good.”

“We’re in decent shape and more or less where we expected to be, but we still have some work to do.”

Red Bull’s position on the table is nothing but deceiving as Max Verstappen went 0.450s slower than Sergio Perez’s fastest time in 2023.

The defending champions focused on long runs during Verstappen’s stint. The Dutchman set the fourth fastest time of the day.