Bahrain testing highlights stark tyre allocation divide among top teams

Over the three days of testing in Sakhir, teams will have the C1 white, C2 white and C3 yellow compounds available to run, with intermediate and full wet tyres on hand should rain come into play.

Among the teams that have opted for a more aggressive approach, bringing as many as 20 sets of the softest available C3 tyres, are Mercedes, Ferrari and Haas, with Red Bull, Williams and Alpine following on 18. A radically different choice was made by McLaren and Aston Martin, who will have just eight sets of C3 available, the same number as Cadillac.

Aston Martin has instead focused heavily on the C2 compound, bringing more than any other team with 16 sets compared to McLaren’s 14, while Mercedes will bring just two. As for the hardest C1 compound, Cadillac will have as many as 10 sets, compared to just two for Red Bull, Ferrari and Racing Bulls, underlining the very different run plans across the grid.

All teams, meanwhile, have kept a single set of intermediate tyres on hand in case of need, with no full wet tyres selected.

With Bahrain set to host the opening official test of the year, all eleven teams are progressively revealing how they plan to split driving duties across the three-day programme, which follows the private, behind-closed-doors shakedown that took place in Barcelona.

Running is organised into two daily segments — morning and afternoon — and teams are free to manage their line-ups as they see fit. While many will alternate drivers between the two sessions, others may choose to keep the same driver in the car for the entire day.