Max Verstappen wrapped up Friday’s test programme ahead of the new F1 season. After teammate Isack Hadjar ran the RB22 in the morning, the Dutchman took the wheel in the afternoon. Verstappen posted the third-best time during his long runs, but was clearly nowhere near Charles Leclerc‘s strikingly dominant Ferrari. The four-time world champion stressed there is still work to be done for Red Bull in the weeks ahead.
“In my session we were able to complete our full programme, so that’s a good sign,” Verstappen said afterwards. “I think we’ve prepared as best we can for the season, but it’s clear there’s still a lot of work needed to get quicker,” he added. “We’ll see how we fare in Melbourne, but we must keep working hard.” Insiders still place Red Bull at the front, although Mercedes and Ferrari currently look like the benchmark.
Dominant Ferrari
Verstappen completed 65 laps on Friday but ultimately finished more than a second down on Charles Leclerc. Ferrari were the only team to post a time below one minute 32 seconds, producing a dominant final day. The Italian stable has already impressed over the past days, not least with the new start procedure. Lewis Hamilton‘s speed — he shot from P11 to P1 during a practice start on Thursday — did not go unnoticed. On top of that the Ferrari engine looks particularly reliable; customer team Haas completed 1,175 laps during the test period, just 29 fewer than record-holder Mercedes.
The new Red Bull power unit also proved remarkably reliable. Given that the team developed an entirely new power unit together with Ford, that can certainly be viewed as an encouraging sign. Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad completed no fewer than 165 laps on the final test day in Bahrain, a test record at the Sakhir circuit.
