Jody Egginton (Technical Director) comments about the three-day test:
“Scuderia AlphaTauri concluded a positive third – and final – day of pre-season testing here on the Bahrain International Circuit, racking up an impressive 422 total laps (2283.86 km). Following two days of changeable conditions, today marked the first day of calmer weather – and cooler track temperatures – for both drivers. Starting in the morning session, Pierre continued to add to his impressive mileage tally, amassing a further 76 laps before the lunchbreak. Meanwhile, Yuki spent the afternoon finishing his testing plan with a race simulation, before finishing the test on a high, achieving a strong second place as the chequered flag fell.
Over the course of three days, the team completed a successful testing programme – including a vast amount of aero testing, with rakes fitted, and collected a large amount of data that the team will now analyse ahead of the first race again here in Bahrain at the end of the month. Following running, the team remain cautiously optimistic about the performance of the car but will now return to the factory to further understand the level of correlation between wind tunnel data and performance on track.”
Yuki Tsunoda #22 Time: 1:29.053 91 laps – 492.492 km Pos. 2nd
“Jumping out of the car in P2 today is a great feeling – of course you can’t get too ahead of yourself, as it’s only testing, but it’s great to finish the three days on a high. I’ve learnt so much over the last few days and collected crucial data for the team that we’ll now go back and analyse ahead of the first race. I think for me it’s great that we’re returning here so soon for the start of the season as I’ve managed to complete a lot of running here now and understand the track well. We’ve had a few small teething problems but that’s exactly what you’d expect from testing – we’re here to work everything out so we have the best possible package available to us come race day. I’ll continue working hard over the next few weeks and I’m excited for it to start!”
Pierre Gasly #10 Time: 1:30.828 76 laps – 411.312 km Pos. 12th
“Now that the three days of testing are over, I can’t wait to start racing, we’ve managed to complete our full testing schedule and have a good understanding of everything. Preparing for the race, we know the car’s strengths and we know where we can still make some improvements. I feel confident in the car and I think we’re in a much better place than we were this time last year. I think we know where we’ll be fast, and we have understood how to work on the car further. I really hope we can be in the fight this season and get some good points. Honda have also done a great job with the Power Unit and so far, we’re really happy with it – it’s a strong step forward, compared to last year, and the reliability has been perfect all three days, which is really positive. I’m excited for us to get to qualifying at the Bahrain Grand Prix because I think that’s when we’ll really see what everyone can do.”
Jonathan Eddolls (Chief Race Engineer)
“We closed the test here in Bahrain with another fantastic day and were able to cover all of the planned items. Pierre drove in the morning, with the focus on further setup items, to help improve the balance. We’ve managed to complete tests that we wouldn’t normally have the luxury of conducting on a race weekend, so it’s been a great opportunity for us to populate our database. Furthermore, we’ve been able to increase our understanding of the new 2021 tyre compounds over some long runs. We swapped to Yuki for the afternoon, where he had the opportunity to undergo his first, and only, race simulation before the season starts. This was crucial for him and particularly allowed him to learn more about tyre management techniques. The day ended for Yuki with some performance running, as the track temperature and wind dropped. The conditions meant that the track was the fastest of the three days and therefore flattered lap times somewhat. Both drivers have been very consistent and put in really good performance so, as a team, we are very much looking forward to returning here in two weeks to see the real classification and get back to racing!”
Franz Tost (Team Principal)
“We’ve had three really good test days here in Bahrain and we managed to complete 2,284 km in total. We’ve learnt a lot about the car because we managed to complete so many laps. Both drivers did a fantastic job across all three days, Pierre was very consistent in every session and Yuki performed very well this afternoon. The AT02 seems to be competitive, but we won’t know how representative this is until the first qualifying session here in Bahrain. I would like to thank everyone in the team for the good job which has allowed us to get us into this position and we’re looking forward to the season ahead. I also would like to thank the organisers here at the Bahrain International Circuit for such a warm welcome and for organising a great test.”