The second free practice session at the start of the season is going well for Max Verstappen, he sets the fastest lap. Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has to watch and ends up farther back. Not so Mick Schumacher.
Max Verstappen teased Lewis Hamilton, quickly declared himself the well-deserved world champion – and when it finally started in Formula 1, the Red Bull star also delivered. Hamilton, on the other hand, had a very bad start to the new era of the premier class.
In free practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix (Sunday, 4 p.m. in the t-online live ticker), Verstappen turned the fastest lap, leaving the record world champion in the Mercedes far, far behind. In the end, 1.2 seconds separated the two permanent rivals, Hamilton was only in ninth place, and other than that, quite remarkable things happened.
Mick Schumacher ahead of Hamilton
So Mick Schumacher can hope more than ever for a more successful second season – at the start he was ahead of Hamilton. In eighth place (+1.1) he was also faster than his new teammate Kevin Magnussen. For a year Schumacher was only able to follow, maybe Haas actually used the rule amendment for a big leap.
In the car of Sebastian Vettel, who was suffering from Corona, Nico Hülkenberg (+2.1) had to get back to Formula 1 after a year and a half. However, the disappointingly slow Aston Martin also limited him. Substitute driver Hülkenberg ended up in 17th place, and his teammate Lance Stroll also finished 16th.
Russell better than teammate
And Mercedes? Hamilton’s new teammate George Russell got along a little better, finishing fourth (+0.5) with a clear gap to Verstappen. However, the Silver Arrows jumped visibly on the straight and had major problems with this well-known teething problem of the new aerodynamic concept.
Even after the test drives, Hamilton in particular was very low-key, he said, that one would not go for victories at first. When asked about this, Verstappen reacted with irony in Bahrain. “I think Mercedes will be beaten, I think they have a terrible car,” said the Dutchman. In Bahrain, however, the Mercedes problems were real, at least on Friday.
It is therefore questionable whether the duel between Verstappen and Hamilton will be repeated so quickly. The rivalry shaped the entire past year, culminating in the finale in Abu Dhabi – when Verstappen was only able to take the title from Hamilton thanks to a highly controversial race director decision.
“I have no grudges”
Of course, that’s still a main issue, and Verstappen has been dealing with it aggressively so far. Does he have to prove something after winning the title? “I proved everything last season, with the most poles and the most wins,” said Verstappen, “people forget that.”
Hamilton, however, does not want to talk much about what was three months ago. He doesn’t want revenge, “I don’t hold grudges and I don’t bring any burden to the season,” he said on Friday: “I can’t change the past, I can only work hard.”
However, he then said about the sometimes tough duels with Verstappen: “I will be a more aggressive driver this year, you will see.” First of all, it has to be established whether he has the car for it.