Max Verstappen was fastest on day one of pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit, the three-time champion managed a hundred and fourth-two laps on his way to a 31.344, using the C3 tyre the hardest of the medium tyres. Verstappen was a second faster than Lando Norris.
The Red Bull driver is expected to be the driver to beat this season, with the car looking to be smooth on track and reliable throughout the day. Verstappen’s fastest time coming under the lights around the same time as next Friday’s qualifying session. Norris meanwhile took over from his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri for the afternoon session.
Verstappen ran all day in the Red Bull, completing 143 laps, more than two race distances – with no obvious problems, while many other teams split their running between two drivers. During the afternoon session, he had improved by over a second from his morning session
While the headlines will be about Verstappen setting the fastest time and while testing in recent years has been more reliable as a guide, the variables at play mean its unreliable to draw a full picture. But Verstappen looked once again like he was during much of last season poised and quick whenever it was out on track.
As expected from their launch last week they gave little away, some elements have drawn comparisons to Mercedes now-abandoned ‘zero-sidepod’ concept, which the Brackley team concluded at the start of last year was not going to lead them on a path back to F1 success.
It was a good start for McLaren who this time last year struggled with reliability and performance which placed them on the backfoot for much of the first half of the season. Much of the fastest running came during the ‘qualifying hour’ for next weeks Grand Prix once the sun had set. Norris, is already just three tenths off the best they managed across the whole test last February, a solid start for the team which made the biggest onwards in 2023.
Carlos Sainz was fourth fastest a tenth behind Norris, setting his best time at nearly the same time as his former teammate. Both going around a second off the Dutchman on the C3 tyre, the softest medium tyre which will be the soft next week for the Grand Prix.
Daniel Ricciardo was fourth in the RB the Australian going just over two tenths faster than the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll and Alpine of Pierre Gasly. Charles Leclerc was eighth fastest in the final classification, nearly two seconds off Verstappen. However, the Monacan had only done the morning session when he was seven-tenths off the Red Bull.
Leclerc spilt the two Aston Martin’s after he was just over a tenth faster than Fernando Alonso, who was third at lunch. Norris’s teammate Oscar Piastri completed a race distance during his stint leaving him ninth two-tenths faster than the Sauber of Guanyu Zhou. The expected midfield, fifth to tenth, covered by a second.
Logan Sargeant had the most difficult day, Williams only completed their 100km shakedown on Tuesday. But come the first day of official testing the American could only manage twenty-one laps and a spin at Turn Nine, before a fuel pump issue saw a lengthy time in the pits.
Mercedes employed their usual tactics a low-key test, focusing on mileage George Russell in a full day of track running completed over two race distances on his way to twelfth. But they have caught the eye with an innovative front-wing arrangement on the W15, in which a tiny flap that connects the wing to the nosecone.
The second RB of Yuki Tsunoda was thirteenth after the Japanese’s morning runs, followed by Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas, Albon and the second Alpine of Esteban Ocon.
In line with their muted pre-season expectations, Haas Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg finished at the bottom of the timesheets, even if Wednesday’s times are completely meaningless. Magnussen over a second behind Ocon and two-tenths faster than Nico Hulkenberg.
