F1 test, Verstappen fastest on day 1, Ferrari third with Sainz

Where were we? With the Red Bull which dominated F1. Well, the F1 2024 edition has resumed from the same point, from Max Verstappen in the lead ahead of everyone, more than a second behind. It’s only the first day of testing of the new season, but if we were to listen to the times on the stopwatch, the situation would already seem worrying for everyone. The world champion finished in command in 1’31″344, 1″140 faster than Lando Norris’ McLaren and 1″240 better than Ferrari by Carlos Sainz. Fourth place for Daniel Ricciardo’s RB, which this year promises to be a single-seater to be followed carefully, as many rivals already feared due to the close technical connection with its older sister which could give the former AlphaTauri a considerable boost.

data collection

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Fifth and sixth place for Pierre Gasly’s Alpine and Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin. Seventh is Charles Leclerc with Ferrari. The Monegasque rode in the morning and gave way to Sainz in the afternoon. Naturally the bulk of the teams, Ferrari included, carried out a lot of work in data collection and aerodynamic checks: the famous “rakes” and fluorescent paints were wasted to study the air flows on the bodywork.

Wolff speaks

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The ease with which Red Bull set the times certainly impressed. Mercedes lapped with George Russell who finished 12th and team principal Toto Wolff made no secret that Red Bull is already worrying everyone. “Red Bull is going fast – Wolff told Sky Sport F1 – the first indication is that they are doing well, we are close for now, but we will make the evaluations after the 3 days. Surprised by the RB20? What we no longer see is important than what we see and it’s inside the car. How’s the W15 going? It’s a better base than 2023, the drivers say there’s room to work on it, last year the car was difficult to understand. Hamilton in Ferrari? He surprised me a lot, we went on holiday thinking that we would renew and then he came to my house and told me his decision. Now we will do a year together after a spectacular history and then we will see the future. We will try to build a winning team anyway With Kimi Antonelli? Let’s see, I like the boy and I like his family but let’s not put pressure on him because he’s only 17.” Tomorrow the second of three days.

times

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The times of the first day of testing in Bahrain:

• 1. Verstappen (Red Bull) 1’31″344 (143 laps)
• 2. Norris (McLaren) 1’32″484 (73)
• 3. Sainz (Ferrari) 1’32″584 (69)
• 4. Ricciardo (RB) 1’32″599 (52)
• 5. Gasly (Alpine) 1’32″805 (61)
• 6. Stroll (Aston Martin) 1’33″007 (54)
• 7. Leclerc (Ferrari) 1’33″247 (64)
• 8. Alonso (Aston Martin) 1’33″385 (77)
• 9. Plates (McLaren) 1’33″658 (57)
• 10. Zhou (Sauber) 1’33″871 (63)
• 11. Sargeant (Williams) 1’33″882 (21)
• 12. Russell (Mercedes) 1’34″109 (122)
• 13. Tsunoda (RB) 1’34″136 (64)
• 14. Bottas (Sauber) 1’34″431 (68)
• 15. Albon (Williams) 1’34″587 (40)
• 16. Ocon (Alpine) 1’34″677 (60)
• 17. Magnussen (Haas) 1’35″692 (66)
• 18. Hulkenberg (Haas) 1’35″906 (82)