Max Verstappen has completed his first day of testing in the RB18. The Oracle Red Bull Racing driver was active in Barcelona and drove the most laps of all drivers.
Wednesday was the first day of testing for the new Formula 1 season.
Entire day
Red Bull decided to give Max Verstappen and teammate Sergio Pérez a whole day each to drive their car around the Spanish circuit. Verstappen was allowed to kick off on Wednesday, Pérez’s turn on Thursday and the two drivers each get a half day on Friday. The test days in Barcelona are difficult for outsiders to follow. There is no public timekeeping and live stream and public is not welcome in Spain.
80 laps
Verstappen decided on Wednesday morning to do quite a few laps in his RB18 with number one on the front of his car. In the morning hours, the world champion drove the most laps: 80. The Red Bull driver recorded the sixth fastest time of ten morning drivers. He set his fastest lap in 1.22.246. The Limburger sometimes looked for the edges during training and ended up in the gravel box for a while. Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc was the fastest in a time of 1.20.165. Mercedes sent newcomer George Russell onto the track in the morning hours. He drove the third fastest time in the morning session.
Hamilton
In the afternoon Lewis Hamilton, the other driver of Mercedes and the big competitor of Verstappen, came into action for the first time. The Briton, who has kept quiet for a long time in recent months after the dramatic denouement of the season, came in third in the afternoon session and fifth among all drivers. Verstappen was the first driver to reach the 100-lap mark halfway through the afternoon session.
many rounds
In the afternoon, the Limburger mainly focused on driving many laps and less on driving a fast time. Verstappen stayed on track until the end and drove a total of 147 laps on Wednesday. His time of 1.22.246 from the morning hours turned out to be the ninth of all drivers. That time he was on the hard tire.
Ferrari had a strong first day. After Leclerc, Sainz also drove a strong time and the Ferraris seemed to be setting the fastest times of the day. Lando Norris put a stop to that. The McLaren driver set the fastest time of the day on soft tires: 1.19.568.
Important
The test days are perhaps more important this year than in recent years because of the adjusted regulations in Formula 1. As a result, the cars have different dimensions this year. The striking front and rear wings, air intakes and the larger tires with wheel arches are new on the RB18. During the presentation of the RB18, Verstappen was curious about what the view would be like from the cockpit through the larger tires. The importance of the times driven in Barcelona remains to be seen. A lot of work will be done on the cars in the coming weeks.
Read also: Max Verstappen will defend his title in this car
Bahrain
Two more training days are scheduled in Barcelona on Thursday and Friday. From 10 to 12 March there will be another three training days in Bahrain. The Formula 1 season will also start there on March 20.