F1 testing: Max Verstappen quickest in opening day practice as Christian Horner watches on

Red Bull set early pace in Bahrain as new season looms

Christian Horner had insisted it was business as usual as Red Bull unveiled its car for the 2024 Formula One season ahead last week.

And despite an ongoing investigation into the team’s principal, Max Verstappen backed that statement up as he picked up where he left off in the start of pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit on Wednesday.

The three-time F1 world champion was comfortably the frontrunner in both the morning and afternoon/evening sessions as the RB20 looked as quick as it was last season in winning the drivers’ and constructors’ championships.

And ominously for the three-time world champion’s rivals, it is also potentially the most reliable, completing more laps than any other driver - 142, the equivalent of two-and-a-half times the Bahrain Grand Prix distance.

It is inherently difficult to judge each car on testing alone with the teams all boasting different programmes, but the early signs are that Red Bull’s dominance shows little signs of abating ahead of the opening race in Bahrain next week.

Horner has been the big talking point in the build-up to the season after Red Bull Austria launched an investigation into a complaint against the F1 team boss by a female colleague. The 50-year-old has continued to profess his innocence of any wrongdoing.

Christian Horner and Max Verstappen at Wednesday’s opening session in Bahrain
Getty Images

He arrived at the circuit with the team’s technical boss Adrian Newey, and was later seen smiling with Verstappen before the Dutchman took to the wheel of the new car.

Teams are limited to just three days of pre-season testing ahead of a marathon 24-race season, equating to six hours of practice per driver.

While Verstappen, as has become the norm, set the benchmark, there were some positive signs from those vying to be the best of the rest.

Verstappen and George Russell both completed a full day of testing on Wednesday, with Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton making their practice debuts for 2024 on Thursday.

Russell found his time on track limited earlier on Wednesday after a stint in the garage but his Mercedes team insisted it was nothing to worry about, and so it proved as he completed 120 laps before the end of the day.

The rest of the seven teams opted to split driver duties 50-50 with what is a familiar grid to last season with no driver changes at all.

In the morning, Charles Leclerc looked good in the Ferrari, so too Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin, the quickest challengers to Red Bull in the opening few races of last season before their title challenge tailed off.

Come the post-lunch session, Lando Norris impressed in the McLaren and was second in that latter four-hour stint but more than a second slower than Verstappen.

Horner aside, there has been much talk in the build-up to the season about the future of Russell’s Mercedes team-mate in 2025 after Hamilton opted to join Ferrari at the end of this upcoming campaign.

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