Manama, March 12 (BNA) While world champion Max Verstappen shone under the floodlights of Red Bull, easily topping the charts on the final day of Formula 1 pre-season testing on Saturday, title rival Lewis Hamilton was not optimistic about Mercedes’ performance when The season starts next weekend.
Hamilton missed his record eighth Formula One title on the final lap of the last race last year and is looking to reclaim his title from Verstappen, according to the Associated Press.
Although it is just a test, which can be misleading as teams sometimes have something in reserve, the task could prove more difficult than imagined for the 103-win British veteran.
Verstappen seemed to be in this neat cornering position – he drove F1 with ten poles last year – beating his leading time near the finish, going so fast at one point that he even made the 360.
Powering it with the RB18’s updated side legs and floor standing clearly visible, Verstappen clocked a leading time of 1 minute 31.720 seconds, the fastest during his three test days in Bahrain.
He was 7 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, as the session finished under floodlights and in conditions similar to Sunday’s opening race at the same Sakhir circuit.
We can’t read too much into the timing,” Verstappen said. “The new parts we tested today worked just fine, which is what we’ve always hoped for.”
Two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso pushed his alpine team to third at the end, sending Hamilton’s teammate George Russell to fourth. Both were about a second slower than Verstappen, who won 10 races last year to Hamilton’s eight.
Hamilton was 4.5 seconds behind Verstappen in 17th, although when he was driving earlier in the day conditions were less favorable than in the afternoon and evening.
Hamilton was only the ninth-best team in the morning round, and Verstappen’s trusted teammate Sergio Perez topped him.
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