Verstappen Leads Bahrain Test Piastri Close Behind

The new Formula 1 season is closing in fast. This week the teams are putting miles on the clock during the pre-season test at the Bahrain International Circuit. The first morning session has already wrapped. In a largely uneventful run the drivers got more time to feel the new cars; a closed-door shakedown was already completed in Barcelona. Max Verstappen posted the fastest time in Bahrain.

Max Verstappen was one of the first drivers to venture onto the circuit on Wednesday in his new RB22. The Dutchman is taking the full opening test day. In the morning he traded fastest laps with rivals George Russell and Oscar Piastri, although lap times at this stage tell you very little. All teams are running their own test programmes in Bahrain, concentrating on bolstering reliability and squeezing out extra performance.

Audi-sidepods

That’s why the familiar aero rakes appeared on track early on. These metal rigs measure airflow over the chassis and are used to analyse and refine the aerodynamics. Almost every team ran a few laps with these aids fitted.

On Gabriel Bortoleto’s Audi the rake was mounted further back on the chassis, possibly because the R26 features a radical sidepod design. The German squad turned heads with a vertical layout, markedly different to the configuration used in Barcelona. In terms of reliability Audi certainly looked a lot better than they did in Spain. Back then the new car stalled several times on track, but Wednesday morning Bortoleto was able to complete 49 laps trouble-free.

Colapinto triggers red flag

That wasn’t the case for Franco Colapinto. The Argentine only hit the track after an hour of running in his new A526. Not long after it became clear Alpine is still plagued by problems. Just like in Barcelona, Colapinto caused the first red flag when he stopped on circuit. The car was quickly recovered and the session resumed. It’s unclear what caused this early retirement, but it will undoubtedly give Alpine plenty to puzzle over. By the end of the morning session Colapinto was able to continue, although he completed significantly fewer laps than his rivals.

The fastest time from Max Verstappen — set after a few hours of running — nonetheless held up. Oscar Piastri came close in the MCL40 but ultimately finished 0.169 seconds adrift of the Dutchman. To underline that these are test sessions: Verstappen did a lap of 1:35.433 this morning, while Piastri last year claimed pole in Bahrain with a 1:29.841. These sessions are therefore anything but competitive. Carlos Sainz, driving for Williams, was the most productive: he completed 77 laps.