Sakhir [Bahrain], February 22 : Max Verstappen and Red Bull made headlines as pre-season testing for 2024 began on Wednesday at the Bahrain International Circuit, handily winning both of the early sessions.
Verstappen topped the combined timesheets by slightly over a second with his benchmark of 1m 31.344s, despite the fact that the ten teams were running different programmes.
"It feels fantastic to be back in an F1 car again, and I had fun out on track today. We did a lot of laps and tried a lot of different things with the vehicle, which was crucial, so I'm pleased with how it went overall," Verstappen said as quoted by Formula 1.
"After the winter break, the first few laps always surprise you a little but then you get back into the swing of things pretty quickly. Overall, the car was responding well and considering this was only testing we had a nice day. Looking to tomorrow, we are speaking to our engineers about what the plans will be, but I am looking forward to getting into the car in the afternoon," he added.
Red Bull's Head of Race Engineering, Gianpiero Lambiase, also explained how the team's pressing doubts regarding their new package were resolved during the first day of running.
"The winter break was fairly short this year but, nonetheless, the amount of work which has gone into the car has been impressive as usual," he commented.
"We came to Bahrain with a few unknowns around a relatively new car, but we have tested most of the fundamentals on day one and got the answers we needed to. Now we have a solid base to take onto days two and three when Checo [Sergio Perez] takes over the car in the morning," Lambiase said.
Verstappen clocked a pace of 1m 32.548s under the warmer noon circumstances but dropped to 1m 31.344s as the second session progressed and the sun began to set over the Sakhir desert.
Reigning three-time F1 Driver also continued his amazing mileage, charging over two race lengths as one of just two drivers (together with Mercedes' George Russell) to complete the whole day behind the wheel.
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