Max Verstappen fired a warning shot at his rivals by topping the timesheets on the final day of Formula 1 preseason testing in Bahrain, the World Champion powered the Red Bull around the Grand Prix circuit seven-tenths faster than any of his rivals.
Red Bull rolled out a raft of new updates to the car that had the Bahrain pitlane in a frenzy, then Sergio Perez first in the morning and later Verstappen, in the more relevant afternoon/evening session, went top the of their time sheets during their respective stints.
Helmut Marko was seen cracking a rare smile as the Blue cars set the pace, suggesting the Bulls are confident of a rampage; inadvertently or not Verstappen suggested there was more in their armoury when he said that his 1:31.720s effort was only a glimpse of what is coming next weekend for the season opener.
The Dutchman told reporters at the end of the day at Sakhir: “No one gives full beans or goes to qualifying spec in testing, so we can’t read too much into the timing screens. The new parts we tested today worked well which is what we always hope for.
“The main focus today was testing the tyres we are going to use next week. The car felt alright and we completed the programme we set out to do, so that’s always positive.
“The rough surface, warmer conditions, and the layout of the track makes it a completely different feeling compared to Barcelona. But yes, of course, I think we learned a lot more about the cars, so we made the car faster, and I think that’s what you want.
“I think with the new parts, which arrived today, they also worked well, which you always hope for. They worked, so then hopefully we’ll keep them on,” added Verstappen.
Rocquelin: The lap times are irrelevant
Perez, on duty for the first half of the day, was on the same page as his teammate: “This morning was good. We have definitely learned a lot throughout this testing period and I think there is still so much to learn.
“There are lots of areas for improvement to arrive at the best performance package possible. Generally, we had a positive day and now I’m just looking forward to the race next weekend,” added the Mexican veteran.
Red Bull’s Head of Race Engineering Guillaume Rocquelin summed up their final day of Bahrain testing: “The lap times are irrelevant. Today was more about putting together the lessons we have learned over the past few days. It was about going through the process of running different compounds, so that the drivers are happy and that we have a platform to work from for next week.
“There were some slight differences in the tyre allocation between Max and Checo, but generally the idea was the same, to establish a good baseline with which we can start the race weekend and I think we achieved that,” added Rocky.
The next time the cars are fired up in anger again will be for FP1, Friday 18 March, ahead of the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday, 20 March.
Next time we’re on track ➡️ FP1 for the #BahrainGP ??? pic.twitter.com/u4UFWz0SOS
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) March 12, 2022