Business as usual: Verstappen dominates F1 preseason testing

SAKHIR, Bahrain – Max Verstappen finished the opening day of Formula One pre-season testing in the same place where he finished last year's championship – comfortably away from the rest of the field.

The first of three days of testing began on Wednesday at the Bahrain International Circuit, with the season-opening race scheduled to take place at the same circuit on March 2.

– A complete guide to F1 pre-season testing

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Although reported testing times can be misleading, Verstappen's 1.140-second advantage over his closest rival, Lando Norris, is a worrying sign for the rest of the grid, especially as he follows to two consecutive seasons of domination by Red Bull in 2022 and 2023.

Verstappen, who will be aiming for his fourth consecutive title this season, set his time in the final hour of testing using the C3 compound tire. The lap beat his best effort from earlier in the day by 0.3 seconds, which had already brought a huge smile to the face of his race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, in the Red Bull garage.

The next two days of testing will likely provide a clearer picture of Red Bull's lead as rival teams better understand their cars and refine their settings. Many variables can impact lap times during testing, such as fuel load and engine settings, meaning that one team's real advantage over others is often found deeper in the times per lap by averaging longer runs.

Furthermore, as impressive as Verstappen's time was, his 1:31.344 was still a second off the best time from last year's pre-season testing at the same circuit and more than 1.6 seconds behind his own pole position time for the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix.

McLaren's Norris set the second-fastest time on Wednesday – in 1:32.484 – using the same C3 tire compound as Verstappen, albeit earlier in the day before the sun set and the track cooled to a more favorable temperature . Norris was 0.1 seconds ahead of the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz in third place, who was a further 0.015 seconds ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, driving for the second Red Bull team, now known as RB.

While Red Bull was still expected to maintain at least some advantage going into this season, many rival teams were hoping to close the gap over the winter.

Several teams have clearly borrowed ideas from last year's dominant Red Bull RB19 to try to close that gap, but over the same period the world champions appear to have moved the game further.

The most visible difference on the new RB20 is a new approach to cooling the car, which includes thin horizontal sidepod inlets that have allowed for a deeper undercut beneath the sidepod itself.

Along with the prominent bulges running the length of Red Bull's engine, the new design has led to comparisons to the concept car that Mercedes has pursued for the past two years and abandoned over the winter.

However, while Mercedes combined these features with thin sidepods, known as the famous “zero pod” design, Red Bull's new car retains more conventional sidepods.

“Each team follows its own development direction, trying to generate lap times in the virtual world, simulations and in the wind tunnel,” Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said on Wednesday when asked about the design of the Red Bull. “And then you put that on the car, regardless of what the other teams are doing.

“We went back from our zero-pod concept and some features because we didn't feel like it was performing, and that's why we went with what seems, at first glance, more conventional with the bodywork, but we will use it with a better platform.”

After finishing second in the championship last year, Mercedes is expected to be among Red Bull's closest competitors this year. George Russell piloted the new W15 throughout Wednesday's opening day of testing, setting the 12th fastest time, and will hand over to teammate Lewis Hamilton on Wednesday before the two drivers share driving duties the last day.

At this point last year, Mercedes drivers already had doubts about their 2023 car, but Wolff, speaking at a press conference midway through the opening day, said the Early signs this year were more promising.

“We had a day of filming yesterday and some aerodynamic testing this morning; we will know more with the later lap times,” Wolff said. “But part of the feedback from the drivers was that this is something we can work on, and that’s encouraging.”

Ferrari, McLaren and Aston Martin are also expected to be strong contenders in the field chasing Red Bull, although Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur, whose team finished third on Wednesday, remained skeptical about catching Red Bull.

“Compared to Red Bull, I don’t know,” he replied when asked if the gap would narrow. “All the others, I think, will definitely converge with the stable regulation.”

Williams was the team that experienced a significant reliability issue on opening day. A driveshaft problem after Logan Sargeant's spin in the afternoon session limited the team to 61 laps, leaving them with plenty of ground to make up over the remaining two days.

Pre-season testing continues on Thursday at the Bahrain International Circuit.

Final standings from the first day of pre-season testing:

Max Verstappen (Red Bull): 1:31:334

Lando Norris (McLaren): 1:32.484

Carlos Sainz (Ferrari): 1:32.584

Daniel Ricciardo (RB): 1:32.599

Pierre Gasly (Alpine): 1:32.805

Lance's Walk (Aston Martin): 1:33.007

Charles Leclerc (Ferrari): 1:33.247

Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin): 1:33.385

Oscar Piastri (Mercedes): 1:33.658

Zhou Guanyu (Sauber): 1:33.871

Logan Sargeant (Williams): 1:33.882

George Russell (Mercedes): 1:34.109

Yuki Tsunoda (RB): 1:34.136

Valtteri Bottas (Sauber): 1:34.431

Alex Albon (Williams): 1:34.587

Esteban Ocon (Alpine): 1:34.677

Kevin Magnussen (Haas): 1:34.692

Nico Hulkenberg (Haas): 1:34.906