F1 News

McLaren and Haas already active in Bahrain

Two days before winter tests already F1 action in Bahrain

21 February 2023 at 12:41
Last update 21 February 2023 at 13:20
  • GPblog.com

The 2023 F1 winter tests only start in two days, but some teams are already active on the tarmac in Bahrain. McLaren and Haas are already warming up the new weapon with a shakedown on the track.

All teams are allowed one hundred kilometres of free track driving before the start of winter testing. These hundred kilometres do not count as test metres and no in-depth analysis may therefore be unleashed on the first drive. The hundred kilometres is called a shakedown or filming day. The drivers get the first feel with the new car and the teams can also shoot footage on the track.

Haas and McLaren give the go-ahead in Bahrain

Haas has split the mileage between Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hülkenberg and between two different locations. The drivers first drove in Silverstone and today it is the latter's turn to start and the team has chosen to do so in Bahrain. The German will drive the first metres in the VF23 today and the Dane will follow.

Besides Haas, McLaren is also active in Bahrain today. The team has not yet driven the MCL60. These are the first metres the new car will make. On the one hand, this looks like a flying start to winter testing at McLaren. The conditions in Bahrain are more usable than the cold weather and rain at Silverstone, where most other teams did the shakedown. On the other hand, it is late that the McLaren is only now making its first metres.