F1 Winter Testing Begins with Verstappen Leading

The F1 season kickstarts in Bahrain, showcasing all teams and Max Verstappen dominating the initial sessions with notable performances.

This Wednesday marked the return of F1 with the start of winter testing in Bahrain. All the new cars were seen on track together, with Max Verstappen finishing this first half-day at the top.

Of course, the Red Bull driver’s time of 1’32″548 is not indicative, as teams were engaged in extensive background work. In the first hour, aerodynamic testing took place with probe grids around the cars.

As the session progressed, times improved, but nothing gave a clear indication of the pecking order. Surprisingly, it was reliability that brought twists. McLaren, notably, struggled to get its car on track at the start of the session, with Oscar Piastri showing just five laps on the counter for a long time.

Later, the Australian managed to get some laps in, and it was Mercedes F1 that encountered a problem, with George Russell spending nearly an hour in the garage in total. Mercedes apparently faced an issue with its hybrid system, but the car returned to the track towards the end of the session.

Williams kept its FW46 in the garage for a few minutes, before the car stopped on track in the last quarter of an hour. It’s unclear what issue affected the Williams driver.

Furthermore, Haas also faced some problems, but the team managed to complete numerous laps, exceeding 60 loops thanks to Kevin Magnussen, who was nevertheless at the bottom of the standings.

The morning’s most productive driver was Fernando Alonso, third with over 70 laps completed, just ahead of Verstappen, who neared 70 loops. Charles Leclerc finished second with around sixty laps as well.

Piastri is fourth, but McLaren just surpassed 50 laps. Yuki Tsunoda follows with close to 60 laps, ahead of Russell, who also approached 50 loops. Valtteri Bottas had a good run in the Stake F1, and Albon finished eighth with 40 laps covered.

The session will resume at 1 pm until 5 pm, and there will be driver changes in eight of the ten teams. Only Russell and Verstappen will not be replaced, with Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez not driving today.

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