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Otmar recaps Bahrain pre-season test

After three days of Formula One pre-season testing, the Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One™ Team has just under two weeks to prepare for the 2021 season opener in Bahrain.

While pre-season testing took place in Sakhir at the same circuit in which the Formula One grid will begin racing this year, the test was about understanding and refining the AMR21 for the entire season ahead.

And with just three days of pre-season testing, as opposed to six in 2020, efficient running and meaningful data were all the more important.

With Pirelli’s range of five tyre compounds – including a Prototype option – Lance and Sebastian both conducted short and long runs, race simulations and various evaluations across the three days.

For the Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One™ Team, it was also important to get Sebastian fully up to speed with his new team and the opportunity to practice live simulations of race practices such as pitstops is always welcome.

While a sandstorm on Friday and high winds across the first two days were challenges to overcome – along with the usual teething issues all teams go through with a new car – the team achieved significant mileage.

Lance and Sebastian covered a total of 314 laps this week and we’ve now got a vast amount of data to digest.

Otmar Szafnauer-CEO & Team Principal

CEO & Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer explained on Sunday evening that the test was “a pretty busy week where we learned a huge amount despite a few challenges here and there – including a sandstorm on Friday.

“Between them, Lance and Sebastian covered a total of 314 laps this week and we’ve now got a vast amount of data to digest before we come back here for the race.

“We lost a bit of track time with some technical issues over the weekend, especially for Sebastian yesterday [on Saturday], but that’s one of the reasons why we go testing.

“One of the main tasks this week was to continue helping Sebastian settle into the team and we’ve made a lot of progress already.

“Lance was able to conduct our programme as planned this morning [on Sunday], gaining some useful data on the long runs, race simulations and shorter runs too.

“It leaves us well placed to come back here for the race later this month.”