F1 Testing: Day 1 – Verstappen Shines as Mercedes Face Gearbox Gremlins

The desert was filled today with the sound of F1 engines once more as the pre season testing begun with two four-hour sessions, to include some night running, in what is one of three days the teams will have before the race weekend in a fortnight. This was done to cut costs, and to reduce the travelling due to Covid restrictions.

Because of this, cars were out on track constantly, with most of the teams splitting the session, while others only ran one driver for the whole day. The morning session saw Mercedes struggle, with the gearbox giving up after just one lap, and it took three hours to replace, allowing Valtteri Bottas just six laps before Lewis took over after lunch. Toto Wolff was concerned, saying the issue “came out of nowhere”.

Sir Lewis Hamilton had a better session, racking up 42 laps, but as the track got slippier due to a passing sandstorm, the handling looked awful and resulted in him setting just the tenth fastest time overall. It definitely wasn’t what Mercedes were used to, from a team that usually racks up over 150 laps in testing.

Red Bull completed the most laps on the first day with Max Verstappen behind the wheel and it seemed to cope best with the gusty, and sandy, conditions of Bahrain. Even the odd spin didn’t stop a great day for Red Bull.

McLaren, like Red Bull, saw an impressive start with their Mercedes engine, with new recruit Daniel Ricciardo topping the session times in the morning, before Lando Norris taking second, two tenths behind Verstappen on the same tyres.

Esteban Ocon, like Max, completed the full day for the new Alpine team, and managed a solid third place and 129 laps of testing.

Lance Stroll was fourth for Aston Martin with 46 laps with teammate Vettel 13th fastest with 51 laps in the morning session. Unsurprisingly, Haas and Williams flounder towards the bottom, with Mazepin winning the first battle of the new Haas drivers. Giovinazzi managed a 6th place time just 1.3 seconds off the pace, showing promise for Alfa Romeo, while their engine suppliers Ferrari have also struggled with reliability and seem short of pace today.

Like we’ve seen in previous years of testing though, the times on the first day don’t often prove to be symptomatic of the true potential of any cars. Even Verstappen’s day topping time would have left him at the back of the grid in last years Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying. Notably though, Vertappen beat his own fastest lap from that GP by 1.34 seconds suggesting an upturn in performance from the pack and not least the newly upgraded Honda Power unit.

It all starts again tomorrow with the morning session 7am-11am and then 12pm-4pm for the afternoon session.

Full timesheet is found below

1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 139 laps, 1:30.674
2. Lando Norris, McLaren, 46 laps, +0.215
3. Esteban Ocon, Alpine, 129 laps +0.472
4. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin, 46 laps +1.108
5. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, 57 laps, +1.245
6. Antonio Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo, 68 laps, +1.271
7. Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren, 45 laps, +1.529
8. Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri, 74 laps, +1.557
9. Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri, 37 laps, +2.053
10. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 42 laps, +2.238
11. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 59 laps, +2.568
12. Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo, 63 laps, +2.646
13. Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin, 51 laps, +3.068
14. Roy Nissany, Williams, 83 laps, +4.115
15. Nikita Mazepin, Haas, 70 laps, +4.124
16. Mick Schumacher, Haas, 15 laps, +5.453
17. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, 6 laps, +6.176