With this season's new cars, the rankings have also been revitalized. Not Mercedes, but
Ferrari and
Red Bull Racing are at the top of the timesheets this weekend. Haas and Alfa Romeo also seem to have made a leap in the right direction this year. If the top speeds are to be believed, Alpine is also in good shape this year.
In Bahrain, in fact, it was the two Red Bull and Alpine cars that found themselves at the top of the list of top speeds.
Sergio Perez and
Max Verstappen were fastest in the speed trap, located just before Turn 1. Fernando Alonso and
Esteban Ocon were again shortly behind them. What is striking about the list is the low position of the Mercedes cars.
As many as seven of the eight cars at the bottom of the speed trap run with a Mercedes engine. Only Guanyu Zhou is among them with a Ferrari engine. It is therefore striking that
George Russell and
Lewis Hamilton lose almost ten kilometers per hour compared to Red Bull on the straight, while Ferrari is right above them.
The speed trap in qualifying for the Bahrain GP: