An overview of three days of testing: Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri as 'winners'.
20:46, 14 Mar 2021
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Now that the three only test days of the 2021 F1 season are over we can make our first assessments. We don't yet know the actual ranking, but at least we have an idea of how the start of the season will go for the different teams.
The best way to show that picture is to add up all the data of the past few days. When we look at the fastest lap times we see that most of them are from the last day, which is logical considering the improved conditions.
Which tyre were used to set the fastest lap time is a bit more interesting. From this we can see that there is still some time to be gained by Ferrari. Leclerc drove his fastest time on medium tyres and Sainz was also relatively fast on the C4. We can also see that Haas will most likely be driving at the back of the grid this year.
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AlphaTauri and Alfa Romeo share the honour
A more important measure of the success of a test is the number of laps driven. AlphaTauri and Alfa Romeo both drove the most laps and there is a logical explanation for this.
AlphaTauri let debutant Tsunoda drive as much as possible to get used to the car, while Alfa Romeo probably haveC the most radically different nose of all teams this year and therefore wanted to spend more time on the track.
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What's strange is that the top four teams from last season are the last in this list, and the bottom three are all using Mercedes engines. Both Mercedes and Aston Martin experienced technical problems, whilst Red Bull Racing seemingly voluntarily completed fewer laps.
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Make of it what you will, but all in all Red Bull Racing, AlphaTauri and Honda were the big winners this weekend. Red Bull Racing have not been the fastest driver at a winter test in the last ten years.
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Japanese Grand Prix
Overview
Friday 27.03.26
Practice 1
02:30 AM
Practice 2
06:00 AM
Saturday 28.03.26
Practice 3
02:30 AM
Qualification
06:00 AM
Sunday 29.03.26
Race
05:00 AM
Friday 27.03.26
Practice 1
Fri 02:30 AM
Practice 2
Fri 06:00 AM
Saturday 28.03.26
Practice 3
Sat 02:30 AM
Qualification
Sat 06:00 AM
Sunday 29.03.26
Race
Sun 05:00 AM
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F1-stand 2026
Season
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | MercedesMER | 51 | |
2 | MercedesMER | 47 | |
3 | FerrariFER | 34 | |
4 | FerrariFER | 33 | |
5 | HaasHAA | 17 | |
6 | McLarenMCL | 15 | |
7 | AlpineALP | 9 | |
8 | Red Bull RacingRBR | 8 | |
9 | Racing BullsRCB | 8 | |
10 | Racing BullsRCB | 4 |
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