Max Verstappen is already impressive and Fernando Alonso loves it on the first morning of Formula 1 testing in Bahrain | Relief

Many doubted what Red Bull showed last Thursday. They thought it was a joke, that they wanted to play with their opponents even before they started acting on the court. But they’ve come face to face with reality: the RB20 is every bit as innovative as we’ve seen in digital games this past week, and what’s more, it’s capable of first flying over the asphalt of Bahrain in the hands of Max Verstappen.

first four hours of activity the 2024 Formula 1 circuit saw the first readings of the longest campaign in the history of the category, although The final photo will not be published until Friday of next week.in the qualifying session Bahrain Grand PrixFirst of the year (February 28 – March 2).

Fernando Alonso was second to take to the track in his brand new Aston Martin AMR24, behind George Russell’s Mercedes-AMG W15. And the Spaniard did not wait long to find himself at the top of the standings. In his first tryshowed a result of 1:34.3 on a Pirelli C3 ( difficult which is located in the middle of the range and which will softer for 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix), but in the second he dropped to 1:33.8, which is a second behind the best time of the first day of testing a year ago.

Just before the end of the second hour of testing, Charles Leclerc put Ferrari in first place with a time of 1:33.685, which was the benchmark until he finished. coconut. Max Verstappen took 1 hour 40 minutes to lead the grid for the first time. Formula 1 in 2024, the one that is destined to dominate for another year. Nevertheless, The Dutchman initially suffered from the balance of his RB20. He almost tried the loopholes and was forced to change the configuration. But his 1:33.065 in C3 left Leclerc two tenths behind and Alonso three.

The Asturian driver, the only one of the two Spaniards on track in the morning (Carlos Sainz will ride the SF24 in the afternoon), was the one he drove the most laps in his new car (77) and the session ended at third place, setting his latest best time at 9:37 am CET (11:37 am local time) with a time of 1:33.385 (yes, 33…). However, he was half a second shy of his 1:32.866 on the first day of testing a year ago.

Because it couldn’t be otherwise, track shipmentson the asphalt since a lot of desert sand, were consistent throughout the first four hours of preseason. And although it seemed that reliability problems They did not want to participate in the pre-season start. 22 minutes left At the end of the session, Alex Albon’s Williams FW46 stalled at the end of the line immediately after losing power.

Where there weren’t many smiles was at Mercedes; they weren’t flattering at all.since they were those who have completed the fewest moves with George Russell at the wheel and suffered from the W15’s debut against its rivals. But in the last 15 minutes they managed to prepare everything so that the Briton could break his record and rise to sixth place in the final.

Another characteristic feature of these pre-season days is the equipment aerodynamic sensors and colored paint (paraffin), which was fitted to almost all cars from the very beginning, in order to collect key data on their new designs. Curiously, Aston Martin barely carried them during the first four hours, compared to the bulky grilles of Leclerc’s Ferrari or Tsunoda’s VCARB.

The afternoon session will resume at 13:00 CET and can be followed live until 17:00. DAZN F1.

F1 2024 Pre-Season Test Results – Wednesday Morning