Contenders and confidence: In-season testing round-up

1 April 2025

Another three days of testing are in the books but what have we learned from the in-season Sakhir test?

There are plenty of drivers putting themselves in a strong position ahead of Round 2 in Bahrain, while other teams have captured more momentum with a positive few days in the desert.

Here are a few points we learned while teams gathered more data around the Bahrain International Circuit.

Asterisks remain

Testing is always a tricky read for anybody. You can’t always take the times at face value with different teams testing different things and different points in the day. Drivers will also be driving to an agreed upon pace in coordination with their team, in order to gather as much relevant data as possible.

Take for instance Richard Verschoor topping Day 3. While the MP Motorsport driver finished the test with the fastest overall time, he himself admitted there was little to read into the fact he had finished P1 in the final session of the week.

That is due to his and the team’s strategy for the week that led to the MP driver having a set of Soft compound Pirelli tyres left over for the final hours of the test, enabling him to take the top spot.

That’s not to say that MP are behind their rivals or that they operated using a run plan that was worse than their rivals, as they will have pre-planned areas to cover during the event.

But there are questions that remain of everyone and those won’t be answered until later in the season. Qualifying in two weeks’ time in Sakhir will tick a few of them off however, and being fast around the Bahrain International Circuit certainly won’t hurt chances.

ART Grand Prix & PREMA Racing revival

PREMA Racing and ART Grand Prix looked back on form in Sakhir

Having said that, both of these usual suspects look to be back on even footing after a somewhat difficult campaign in 2024.

Both ART Grand Prix and PREMA Racing appeared to struggle more than some rivals with the new Formula 2 car introduced last season. But after their showing in Bahrain last week, both outfits look to be back to familiar form.

On Day 1, Victor Martins put the French squad on top while Gabriele Minì followed suit on Day 2, leading the way for PREMA. The duo was separated by less than a tenth of a second having run similar plans on different days as Minì and Martins went quickest inside the final hour on each respective day.

Reading beyond the times, both drivers said after stepping out of the car they could feel the positive changes from pre-season to in-season testing. They each added that the signs were good that they’d be able to compete at the front when the paddock reconvenes for Round 2 and later in the season.

Minì remarked how the Bahrain International Circuit had been a “tricky” circuit in the past for PREMA, but their data in testing was proving strong.

Martins echoed similar sentiments, contrasting the situation he and ART found themselves in 12 months ago and stating that the team had achieved their targets to continue their mid-season turnaround into the new campaign.

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Top Contenders

Invicta Racing looked competitive across the entirety of the in-season test

Invicta Racing topped just one session all week and it was the very first morning as Roman Stanek led the way with a 1:44.789. The Czech driver’s time wasn’t an overall benchmark for the test, but the British outfit went about their business quietly and efficiently from there on out, despite no more headline times.

Leonardo Fornaroli alongside Stanek ensured that the team had comparable pace to the likes of Martins and Minì when their run plans were similar, even if they weren’t identical. The reigning Teams’ Champions look to be just as quick as they did last year, and their all-new line-up appears to be at home already in yellow.

Likewise, AIX Racing’s Joshua Duerksen looks to be in great form currently. He’s driving with confidence whenever he hits the track following his 2024 finale victory in Yas Marina and Sprint Race win in Melbourne last month to open his 2025 account.

The Paraguayan driver was inside the top 10 in four of the six sessions in Bahrain, and looked composed on the longer race runs. It will be no surprise to see him contending for higher points-paying positions in the upcoming rounds.