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There is bad news for Max Verstappen's rivals heading into the Formula One season. The Dutchman topped the first day of F1 testing at the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain and teammate Sergio Perez led on Saturday. This will come as a major boost to Verstappen and his crew, with Red Bull aiming for a second straight world title.
Speaking after the testing session, Verstappen was positive about the future. “The car is working really well, just going through a lot of things we wanted to try. It's very interesting what we've been trying, so very positive days for me,” he said. “Overall I think it's definitely an improvement to last year," the 2021-22 winner added. The same emotion was echoed by Perez, who said that Red Bull will start 'much stronger than we did last year.'
Monegasque Charles Leclerc, who won two of the first three races last season before Ferrari faded badly, wants more changes to his car. The young Ferrari gave Verstappen a run for his money last time around but hopes to improve with hard work. “I expect us to be a bit quicker on the straights, maybe struggling a bit more in the corners,” the 25-year-old from Monaco said.
“I can say we are still working quite a bit on finding the sweet spot in terms of set-up.” Ferrari was third and fourth in the first test; sixth-best in the second, and then fourth and fifth on Saturday. We've had a very intense three days of testing. We still have some work to do. Red Bull seems to be very strong," Leclerc said.
Meanwhile, seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton finished second Saturday, but there's room to improve. They will be elated with the fact that the ground effect — known as porpoising — which hindered the team so much in 2022 seems to have been eradicated.
“It's nice to drive without the bouncing for once," Hamilton said. "But there are still some underlying things we're working through.”
