El retorno de la emoción (SPA-ENG)

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Una curiosidad que ha estado rondando por todas partes en el circuito es que por ahora el chasis del Cadillac no tiene un nombre distintivo aunque sus responsables mencionan que sí tiene un nombre y que será revelado recién en unas semanas, probablemente antes de la primera carrera del calendario a disputarse en Australia entre el 6 y el 8 de marzo.

No podía faltar el chimento de la semana, Kimi Antonelli, piloto de Mercedes, chocó. Pero no en el circuito probando su vehículo, lo hizo en San Marino el sábado por la noche, unos días antes de viajar hacia Baréin. Colisionó por causas desconocidas en la autovía de Serravalle con su auto particular, un AMG GT 63 PRO 4MATIC+ de edición limitada. Dicen que Toto Wolff se enojó bastante cuando recibió la factura por la reparación.

Y ahora hablemos algo de lo visto en cuanto a tiempos de vuelta, en la mañana fueron liderados por Max Verstappen con 1:35:433, aún muy lejos del récord del circuito que se ubica unos 4 segundos por debajo de esta marca. Segundo Óscar Piastri y tercero George Russell.

Todavía queda la mitad de la primera de 3 jornadas previstas para disfrutar y encontrar otras perlas de información; estaré atento.

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The return of emotion

Just as we have Return of the Jedi and Return of the King—both films, interestingly, the third in the order of the original Star Wars and Lord of the Rings trilogies, respectively—I came up with the title for this article about the return of the new Formula 1 to the tracks, in this case to complete the first of two official tests scheduled at the Bahrain circuit in the city of Sakhir.

Although the first four hours are just ending, and after the lunch break, they will continue for another four hours, I couldn't resist mentioning some of the highlights of what I've seen so far.

For those who were disappointed with the new color of the Woking team's cars, the current constructors' champions, I have good news: papaya yellow is back! That's right, their car, now sporting its final livery, has largely retained the distinctive and seemingly permanent colors that have characterized it for several years. While it's true that their main sponsor (Mastercard) has required them to paint some sections black, highlighting the overlapping yellow and orange circles so characteristic of the popular credit card, papaya green generally dominates the gleaming fairing. Good news for those feeling nostalgic; frankly, the all-black color scheme looked terrible on the single-seaters in this category, making them resemble the Batmobile.

Another piece of news, certainly not welcome, is that just like in Montmeló, on the first day of practice for the category at the end of January, the Alpine driven by my compatriot Franco Colapinto caused the first red flag. It stalled at the entrance to the hairpin of Turn 8, having just left the pits after fitting yellow tires. He tried to restart the engine, but when it wouldn't start, the red flag was shown, and his A526 was loaded onto a support vehicle and taken back to the garages. He was only able to complete about 16 laps on white tires without achieving any notable times. Fortunately for the team and for Colapinto, the problem was resolved, although it completely disrupted the plans made for the morning's work.

Another important development is that the Williams FW48 finally took to the track with Carlos Sainz at the wheel. He completed a significant number of laps, placing him first among those who completed the most. It has already been announced that Alex Albon will be driving it in the afternoon.

A curious detail that has been circulating the circuit is that, for now, the Cadillac chassis doesn't have a distinctive name, although those responsible for it say it does have a name and that it will be revealed in a few weeks, probably before the first race of the season, to be held in Australia between March 6th and 8th.

And of course, there was the week's big gossip: Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli was in a crash. But not on the track testing his car; it happened in San Marino last Saturday night, just days before he was due to travel to Bahrain. He collided for unknown reasons on the Serravalle highway in his personal car, a limited-edition AMG GT 63 PRO 4MATIC+. They say Toto Wolff was furious when he received the repair bill.

Now let's talk about the lap times. In the morning, Max Verstappen led the way with a time of 1:35.433, still quite far from the circuit record, which is about 4 seconds slower. Óscar Piastri was second and George Russell third.

There's still half of the first of three days of track time left to enjoy and discover other interesting tidbits. I'll be watching.