Is Max Verstappen heading into his Formula 1 title defence as the favourite? Red Bull show form on final day of testing to beat Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, with Mercedes only fourth; Watch the season-opening Bahrain GP from March 18-20, all live on Sky Sports F1
By Matt Morlidge
Last Updated: 12/03/22 4:31pm
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It’s a job well done for Red Bull as Max Verstappen pushes one last time to take the fastest lap of the week in Bahrain.
Max Verstappen overhauled Ferrari to ensure an improving Red Bull finished pre-season testing on top in Bahrain, with Mercedes trailing their rivals ahead of a much-anticipated opening race of F1 2022.
Red Bull, having been relatively quiet through the first five days of winter running, debuted new upgrades – including sculpted sidepods – for their RB18 on the very final day and promptly sent warnings to the whole grid with their new-found pace.
Sergio Perez topped the morning before Verstappen surged to the front in the faster evening session, beating Charles Leclerc in the previously fancied Ferrari by 0.6seconds amid a flurry of impressive and consistent laps.
Verstappen’s final time was a 1:31.720, giving him a boost before his maiden title defence starts with the Bahrain GP, all live on Sky Sports F1 on March 18-20.
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Anthony Davidson says George Russell looks as if he lacks confidence as he battles with porpoising on the final day of the Bahrain testing.
Fernando Alonso finished third for Alpine, who enjoyed a much better Bahrain test compared to Barcelona, while George Russell put in Mercedes’ best lap of the test – but it was a full second off Verstappen and only good enough for fourth.
Paddock consensus is that Mercedes, the sport’s dominant team for the past eight seasons, have been holding some speed back – although Lewis Hamilton, who drove in the morning and finished 17th, is adamant about their standing.
“At the moment I don’t think we will be competing for wins,” stated Hamilton. “We’re not the quickest at the moment. We have a significant amount of pace to find.”
Valtteri Bottas was fifth for Alfa Romeo ahead of Yuki Tsunoda, but ended the day with a reliability issue,
Lando Norris – filling in for Daniel Ricciardo who has Covid-19 – was ninth for McLaren, who managed to bump up their Bahrain mileage with 90 laps following a difficult start to the test.
Mick Schumacher was eighth, though he could improve his standing as Haas once again have extra testing hours at their disposal on Saturday evening.
More to follow.