#F1 Bahrain Test Day 1: @Max33Verstappen edges out @alo_oficial.

Verstappen quickest Bahrain test – Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen was the quickest in Formula 1’s first pre-season test day at the Bahrain International Circuit edging out Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.

Verstappen topped both morning and afternoon sessions, as the conditions in the desert transitioned to milder conditions in the twilight, finishing the day with the benchmark of a 1:32.837 – with the reigning world champion having an off-track excursion at turn 10 the only drama to report.

Whilst the majority of teams split their running over the two sessions, Red Bull kept Verstappen in the RB19 all day, as the Dutchman clocked a total of 157 laps on the mileage charts.

The defending world champion explained “We had a good day today; we completed a lot of laps which is what we wanted – almost three Grand Prix’s worth. It was also a smooth day; we barely had any issues, and we could really focus on the car and try a few things. We had a lot of good running throughout the day when it was hot and sunny and also in the evening which is more representative. It’s nice to see how the car has evolved from last year. The behaviour is a bit different because of the tyres but otherwise, we are happy. It’s difficult to tell how the car will perform this season through one day of testing, the car is running well and that’s the most important thing. I’ll be running again tomorrow afternoon, so we’ll be trying out different compounds and seeing what else we can learn before the race next week.” Verstappen concluded. Credit to Red Bull for the quote.

Verstappen ended day one only 0.029 seconds in-front of Alonso, who climbed up the order in the evening after a disrupted start to proceedings for Aston Martin, which saw reserve Felipe Drugovich stop on track in the morning running.

Both Ferrari drivers followed on the classifications with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc third and fourth respectively, as new Team Principal Fred Vasseur praised the Maranello-marque’s driver lineup and spoke of a positive start for their new contender, the SF-23.

Sainz completed 72 tours of the Bahrain International Circuit with Leclerc 64. The former said: “Overall a positive first day. Reliability was good and we could run smoothly, covering the whole run plan and gathering valuable data, which is encouraging. We progressed well with the setup during the day, and we also managed to get good reads on the tyres we tested in Abu Dhabi so, overall good progress made so far and I’m looking forward to continuing tomorrow”. Sainz concluded. Credit to Ferrari for the quote.

Leclerc added: “We have a busy first day of testing behind us. We completed 64 laps on my side, testing a bit of everything. Our focus was on set-up work, combined with some tyre and aero testing, as well as runs with different fuel levels. We’re going to analyse our data now and I look forward to another session tomorrow”. Leclerc concluded. Credit to Ferrari for the quote.

McLaren’s Lando Norris placed fifth on the time-sheets as the Briton made up for lost time after a lengthy stay in the garage running 40 laps and 0.625 adrift of Verstappen’s benchmark. Norris reflecting on his day stated “It was a reasonable first day. It was good to be back on track, to get a good number of laps under my belt and to get that first feeling from the car, so I’m happy with that. It wasn’t quite the smoothest of days with a few little setbacks here and there, but we got through a lot of the plan and some of the key test items, which we can learn from over the next few days as well some changes we can already start to implement. I’m feeling more comfortable in the car and have changed little things here and there to start to optimise a few things. As far as test days go, it was positive and I’m looking forward to going again tomorrow.” Norris concluded. Credit to McLaren for the quote.

Seven-time world champion Sir Lewis Hamilton was sixth for the Silver Arrows with the Briton praising the F1 W14’s reliability as he ran 83 laps commenting “It’s good to be back in the car here in Bahrain. It was a nice, cool afternoon weather-wise, though windy. We got through our programme and have gathered lots of data. We also had good reliability which contributed to our strong mileage total; that is down to the amazing work done back at Brackley and Brixworth. We’ve got to keep pushing, focus on ourselves, and stay focused. It’s difficult to know where we are in the order, but we’ll get a better feeling in the days to come.” Hamilton concluded. Credit to Mercedes for the quote.

Williams Racing’s Alexander Albon took seventh in the classification, as the Thai-Briton lead the morning mileage charts with a total of 74 laps.

Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu followed in ninth place, and 0.886 off the pace as Mercedes’ George Russell and Williams new signing Logan Sargeant – the day’s fastest rookie – completed the top ten.

F1’s returnee to the sport, Nico Hulkenberg, finished the day in 11th, completing 51 laps in the VF-23, finishing ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas who took 12th and Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Nyck de Vries who placed 13th.

The aforementioned Drugovich wound up 14th in the order as he recovered from his electrical-related, red-flag causing incident at the exit of turn four, with the reigning FIA Formula 2 world champion giving the Mercedes-powered AMR23 it’s official debut in-place of regular Lance Stroll.

That was not the only issue for the Silverstone-based squad on the opening day of running, with Alonso’s afternoon also experiencing a delay, whilst mechanics looked at the floor of the AMR23.

Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda ended the day 15th and in-front of Alpine duo Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon who were 16th and 17th respectively.

McLaren’s rookie Oscar Piastri and Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen rounded out the field – as the pack were covered by just over two seconds.

Missed day one? You can watch the highlights of the opening day here at the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNgxMvhb1gc

#F1 2023 Pre-Season Testing Driver Lineups.