Verstappen set the pace at Bahrain International Circuit in the first of three days of testing, ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz of Ferrari.
2024 Bahrain F1 test, Day 1 results:
What happened in Bahrain F1 testing, Day 1?
Running the C3 tyre in the Pirelli range, which will be the soft compound in next weekend’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, Verstappen lapped in 1m31.344s. That was 1.14s clear of Norris, with Sainz a further tenth behind.
Daniel Ricciardo was fourth fastest for Red Bull’s second squad, AlphaTauri now rebranded as RB, ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.
Charles Leclerc ran in the morning session, and his time held for the seventh fastest time for Ferrari, ahead of Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin.
Oscar Piastri (McLaren) and Zhou Guanyu (Sauber) rounded out the top 10.
Verstappen and George Russell (who was 12th quickest for Mercedes) were the only drivers who stayed in their cars for the whole day, whereas the other teams switched at lunchtime.
Verstappen also completed the most laps, getting 142 under his belt.
What happened in Bahrain F1 testing’s morning session?
Verstappen had topped the morning session with a lap of 1m32.548s, seven tenths ahead of Leclerc and Alonso.
Alex Albon hit trouble when he stopped on the exit of Turn 2 after his Williams lost power going down the main straight with just 20 minutes to go in the morning session. Albon’s FW46 initially cut out and then failed to re-fire.
Esteban Ocon skated over the gravel trap at Turn 4 after catching a snap of oversteer in his Alpine, while Kevin Magnussen was slightly hampered by a loose aero rake and then a suspected fuel system issue which his Haas F1 Team was able to fix.
2024 Bahrain F1 test, morning session results:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:32.548 | 66 | |
| 2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:33.247 | +0.699s | 64 |
| 3 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:33.385 | +0.837s | 77 |
| 4 | Oscar Piastri | Mclaren | 1:33.658 | +1.110s | 57 |
| 5 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | 1:34.136 | +1.588s | 64 |
| 6 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:34.230 | +1.682s | 48 |
| 7 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber | 1:34.431 | +1.883s | 68 |
| 8 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 1:34.587 | +2.039s | 40 |
| 9 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 1:34.677 | +2.129s | 60 |
| 10 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1:35.692 | +3.144s | 66 |
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