Dutch driver of Red Bull with very strong pace before the start of the season
Max Verstappen set the pace for the third and final day of F1 pre-season testing, which took place at the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain, and which anticipate the start of the new season.
The Red Bull driver was the only one to drop the 1m29s mark during the pre-season tests, when he made his best lap in 1m28.960s, a record reached in the final stage of this Sunday afternoon session with soft tires.
The team Milton Keynes, revealed to be ready for the start of the new season, since in addition to Max Verstappen, also Sergio Pérez, showed a good pace after having been the fastest in the morning session of this third day of testing.
The second best record of this F1 preseason was achieved by Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri), who showed the competitiveness of the new AT02 with Honda engine, finishing at 0.093s of Verstappen.
At Ferrari it was Carlos Sainz Jr who registered the best performance behind the wheel of the new SF21, when closing the tests with the third best record, 0.651s from the top of the timesheet, and ahead of Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo), who was fourth at 0.806s from the fastest.
On the other hand, the title champion of the world, Lewis Hamilton, was far from showing what can be worth the new W12 and, even with soft mix tires, he didn’t go beyond the fifth fastest time when he rode his best lap in 1´30.025s, 1.065´s from Verstappen, having collected again some small mistakes, like a top in the final stage of the afternoon session, due to the instability of the rear of the new single-seater.
Lewis heads out for a qualifying run, but spins on the final corner ???? # F1 # F1Testing pic.twitter.com/W47XMYqbzG
– Formula 1 (@ F1) March 14, 2021
Note also to Fernando Alonso, who revealed to be in shape on his return to F1 with Alpine, having ended the three days of testing with the 9th best record at 1.358s from the top of the sheet. times, in a session in which the two-time world champion completed 77 laps on the Bahrain track.
Sebastien Vettel (Aston Martin) was not happy in his debut at the controls of the AMR21, with engine problems affecting the German’s single-seater throughout the tests, ending with the 17th fastest time, 6,081s of the fastest, and having been forced to finish the third day of tests earlier pre-season due to a gearbox problem.
Times of the third and last day of testing:
The @Aramco Pre-Season Test in Bahrain has officially come to an end ???????? @ Max33Verstappen was the fastest overall, with a lap time of 1: 28,960 ???? # F1 # F1Testing @redbullracing pic.twitte r.com/wwcDMCYYoZ
– Formula 1 (@ F1) March 14, 2021
The Formula 1 season starts on March 28, precisely with the Bahrain Grand Prix, which will take place at the Sakhir circuit.
