Business as usual: Verstappen dominates F1 preseason testing

SAKHIR, Bahrain — Max Verstappen finished the opening day of Formula One’s preseason testing in the same place that he finished last year’s championship — comfortably clear of the rest of the field.

The first of three days of testing got underway at the Bahrain International Circuit on Wednesday, with the opening race of the season set to take place at the same circuit on March 2.

– A comprehensive guide to F1’s preseason testing

– Unlapped: How to listen or watch ESPN’s F1 show

While headline times in testing can be misleading, Verstappen’s advantage of 1.140s over nearest rival Lando Norris is an ominous sign for the rest of the grid, especially as it comes off the back of two consecutive seasons of Red Bull dominance in 2022 and 2023.

Verstappen, who will be chasing his fourth consecutive title this season, set his time in the final hour of testing using the C3 compound tyre. The lap beat his best effort earlier in the day by 0.3s, which had already spread a huge grin across the face of his race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, in Red Bull’s garage.

The upcoming two days of testing will likely provide a more accurate picture of just how far ahead Red Bull is as rival teams better understand their cars and refine their setups. So many variables can impact single lap times in testing, such as fuel loads and engine settings, meaning the true advantage of one team over the rest is often found deeper in the lap times by averaging out longer runs.

What’s more, as impressive as Verstappen’s time was, his 1:31.344 was still one second off the best time of last year’s preseason test at the same circuit and over 1.6 seconds off his own pole position time for the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix.

McLaren’s Norris set the second-fastest time on Wednesday — a 1:32.484 — using the same C3 tyre compound as Verstappen, albeit earlier in the day before the sun had set and the track cooled to a more favourable temperature. Norris was 0.1 seconds clear of Carlos Sainz‘s Ferrari in third place, who was a further 0.015s clear of Daniel Ricciardo, driving for Red Bull’s second team, now known as RB.

While Red Bull was always expected to maintain at least some advantage at the start of this season, many…