23/02/2024
NEWS STORY
There's a touch of déjà vu in the desert air as Max Verstappen heads Charles Leclerc and Fernando Alonso on first morning of testing.
That said, it was a somewhat scruffy morning form the three-time world champion as he struggled with his hard tyres on a green track.
However, around ninety minutes before the lunch break it all came together and he posted the time that proved to be the best of the morning.
Other than a few minor offs, the only incident of note was when Alex Albon appeared to lose power on the pit straight and subsequently stopped out on track, however there was no red flag. Earlier in the session, the Thai driver was seen to have smoke billowing from his right-front brake.
Over the course of the 3 days, McLaren and Alpine have opted not to use any softs, the French team instead bringing more hards than anyone else. On the other hand, Mercedes and Aston Martin are focussing on the mediums. Ferrari, which was plagues by tyre issues last year, has the most (6) sets of softs.
No longer having to rely on renders or cars clearly 'doctored' for the launches, there has been a lot of interest in the front wing on the Mercedes and in particular the linkage on the top element.
Also the sidepod inlets on the Red Bull, which resemble the overbite on a shark. Additionally, on-board shots revealed that the RB20 features cooling inlets just behind the driver's head.
Russell was first out on track, but the Briton, sporting a best real money online casinos australia logo, was one of several that proceeded to spend long periods in the garage, while Oscar Piastri didn't post a time until nearly two hours into the session.
Fernando Alonso completed the most laps (77) while Albon (40) completed the least.
As expected, Haas is well off the pace, Kevin Magnussen's cause not helped by a loose aero rake during the opening moments of the session.
This opening day of testing, especially the morning session, is much like FP1 on a Grand Prix weekend, and we all know how significant that is regarded by many in the pitlane.
However, it has given us our first glimpse of the cars and allowed the drivers to get an initial feel, and with the opening race just a week away we can expect things to ramp up over the coming days.
Check out our Wednesday gallery from Bahrain, here.