Bahrain Report: Day 2

A promising qualifying session for Albono

Published

01 Mar 2024

Est Reading Time

2 min

And the first competitive day of the 2024 Formula 1 season is over in a flash.

Taking place under the desert sun, FP3 is typically not very representative of competitive conditions here in Bahrain, with both qualifying and the race occurring at night.

That meant that the final practice session in Sakhir saw Albono take his time to leave the garage, in what was a fairly quiet start for teams across the board.

Eventually rolling onto track with medium tyres on his FW46, Alex completed a short stint round the Bahrain International Circuit, before swapping over to a set of fresh softs.

Initially setting a time of 1:32.495, Alex spent a good deal of the session in the top 10 – but it was clear across the paddock that focus for the day was already on the evening.

Alex is greeted by Patrick after getting out of the car.

And after the sun had dipped below the horizon on Friday, Alex’s maiden qualifying session of the 2024 campaign gave us a good deal to be excited about.

The field was incredibly tight during Q1 – just one second separated the entire grid – and Alex’s time of 1:30.392 was enough for P9 and a comfortable passage through to Q2.

There was no let up in the competitiveness in Q2. Indeed, the session as a whole was notable for some dawdling in the pit lane, as teams and drivers jostled for the best position on the circuit.

Alex’s first run on used soft tyres was never going to challenge the top order – a 1:31.152 was the best he could muster – but his second run put him firmly in the mix.

He improved on his Q1 mark, clocking in with a 1.30:221 – but this time around it wasn’t good enough for the top ten, and ultimately saw Albono bow out of Qualifying with a P13 position to work with tomorrow.

This was a promising session – the FW46’s straight line speed was particularly notable, and saw Alex and teammate Logan Sargeant near the top of the speed trap charts on a regular basis – and Alex will be hoping to use it as a springboard for the race tomorrow. We can’t wait!

Bring on the race tomorrow!