Source : ABC NEWS
Oscar Piastri has enjoyed a productive opening day of Formula 1 preseason testing, while teammate Lando Norris finished with the fastest time.
However, Max Verstappen and Red Bull caught the attention of many with pace and plenty of laps in Bahrain.
Norris lapped the Sakhir circuit in a time of 1 minute 34.669 seconds in the new MCL40, with four-time world champion Verstappen 0.129 seconds slower, but quickest after the first half of the day’s running.
Verstappen was in his RB22 all day and completed 136 laps, compared to McLaren’s combined 112 laps, with Piastri doing 54.
The Australian completed his 54 laps in the morning session and was second-fastest, before Norris drove in the evening session.
Piastri said it had run smoothly and felt he had a better handle on the car.
But it was Verstappen in the Red Bull car that grabbed the attention of many, including Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.
“They (Red Bull) are able to deploy far more energy on the straights than everybody else,” Wolff told reporters at the break.
“I mean, I’m speaking a second per lap, over consecutive laps.
“I would say that as per today, on the first official day of testing, which is always with the caveat of that, they’ve set the benchmark.”
Red Bull is racing with its own engine this season after parting with Honda.
Mercedes-powered McLaren said it had focused on gathering aerodynamic data — rather than mileage or lap times — to provide a broader understanding of the car’s operating window.
“Positive day, lots learned and looking forward to getting back in the car tomorrow,” Norris said.
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Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was third on the timing screens, ahead of Ferrari-powered Haas’s Esteban Ocon (115 laps) and Piastri. Pre-season favourite George Russell was sixth for Mercedes.
Mercedes had an issue in the afternoon when Kimi Antonelli was in the car, while the Aston Martin AMR26 did not appear at all for the later stint.
Lance Stroll completed 36 laps before a data anomaly emerged in the Honda power unit and stopped further running.
Williams made up for lost time by getting in 145 laps with Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon after missing the pre-season shakedown in Barcelona last month.
“Our intent all the way through was just making sure we did the mileage required to learn and understand about the chassis, the power unit, and to start flushing gremlins out of the system,” said team boss James Vowles.
“There will be a lot of them, and these next three days are all about getting a good foundation to work from, and we can then build performance.”
Newcomer Cadillac managed 107 laps, with Sergio Perez 14th of 18 drivers who set a time. Audi, the former Sauber team, had Nico Hulkenberg ninth fastest with 73 laps.
Reuters/ABC
