Max Verstappen displaced F1 test debutant Mick Schumacher from the top of the times on the first day of running at the Bahrain International Circuit.
Unusually, today’s test was disrupted by rain at the desert circuit. Proceedings began on a dry track but a midday shower sent all the cars back into the pits for several hours.After the session resumed, Schumacher moved to the top of the times in the final hour using the softest C5 tyres, which were not nominated for last weekend’s race. However five minutes before the chequered flag came out Verstappen took six-tenths of a second off Schumacher’s time to end the day on top, using a set of C3s.
Track conditions were considerably slower than they were during the race weekend. Verstappen’s best effort was 1.7 seconds slower than Charles Leclerc’s pole position track record from Saturday.
Lando Norris was third-quickest for McLaren ahead of Romain Grosjean and Alexander Albon.
The first day of the two-day test saw 15 drivers take to the track in 12 cars. McLaren and Toro Rosso each ran a second car for Pirelli tyre test purposes. Fernando Alonso, back in an F1 car for the first time since his retirement at the end of last season, set the 11th-quickest time of the day on the prototype rubber.
McLaren also split one of their cars between two drivers, as did Haas and Williams.
| Pos. | Car number | Driver | Team | Model | Best time | Gap | Laps | Tyres |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | RB15 | 1’29.379 | 62 | C3 | |
| 2 | 29 | Mick Schumacher | Ferrari | SF90 | 1’29.976 | 0.597 | 56 | C5 |
| 3 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | MCL34 | 1’30.800 | 1.421 | 22 | C3 |
| 4 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | VF-19 | 1’30.982 | 1.603 | 42 | C3 |
| 5 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Toro Rosso | STR14 | 1’31.089 | 1.710 | 71 | C3 |
| 6 | 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | W10 | 1’31.156 | 1.777 | 77 | C3 |
| 7 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | RS19 | 1’31.584 | 2.205 | 45 | C4 |
| 8 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point | RP19 | 1’31.964 | 2.585 | 33 | C3 |
| 9 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | McLaren | MCL34 | 1’32.059 | 2.680 | 32 | C2 |
| 10 | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | C38 | 1’32.067 | 2.688 | 53 | C3 |
| 11 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | MCL34 | 1’32.207 | 2.828 | 64 | Prototype |
| 12 | 51 | Pietro Fittipaldi | Haas | VF-19 | 1’32.708 | 3.329 | 20 | C3 |
| 13 | 88 | Robert Kubica | Williams | FW42 | 1’33.290 | 3.911 | 19 | C3 |
| 14 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | STR14 | 1’33.653 | 4.274 | 45 | Prototype |
| 15 | 63 | George Russell | Williams | FW42 | 1’33.682 | 4.303 | 27 | C3 |
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Chaitanya
2nd April 2019, 16:28
Since its a desert track, pretty Pirelli didnt bother bringing wet weather tyres for the test.
Jelle van der Meer (@)
2nd April 2019, 16:35
Mmm you should not compare against Leclerc qualifying time but compare against Max time which was 01:28.752.
So Max best time of 1.29,379 during testing (so no maximum risk, likely no party mode and presumably slower track) is only 0.627 slower than his best time in qualifying.
Either the track wasn’t slower or Red Bull might have found a better set-up although 3 days too late.
Bram (@br444m)
2nd April 2019, 17:02
@jelle-van-der-meer Interesting – on the same tyre as well
CarWars (@maxv)
2nd April 2019, 20:54
quali is when the track is the coldest
anon
2nd April 2019, 22:28
@maxv, in this case, it might have helped Verstappen if the track conditions were warmer during this session. Red Bull were supposedly having problems bringing the tyres up to temperature on certain parts of the track in the cooler conditions in qualifying, so warmer conditions during the test would probably have helped improve their performance on that tyre.
Dale
3rd April 2019, 0:02
Too many variables, you’ll drive yourself mad trying to analyse from the sidelines.
Technically after the rain there should have been less rubber on the track, so slower … unless there was lots of sand or dust before, in which case faster.
No idea about wind direction during the day, or compared to Saturday & Sunday.
Honda could have been running a development engine that has more power, or be trialing new modes with extra power, or it could be a new unit & the older one was showing early drop-off.
Tyre pressures may have been outside of the official Pirelli parameters they would have been required to run on race weekends.
The car may even have been under weight so that the team could simulate higher speeds they might encounter at the next race.
thegamer23
2nd April 2019, 16:39
Very good debut for Schumacher i must say: a lot of laps, no problems, solid lap time.
The track was slower indeed, it rained for hours in the early afternoon, so, interesting times.
Debapriya Deb (@debapriya-deb)
2nd April 2019, 16:50
Verstappen and Schumacher running at the top of the timesheet. Sort of a time-machine tour for the F1 fans from 1994. Really happy for the kid. It’s an impressive debut to say the least.
georgeboole (@)
2nd April 2019, 20:12
@debapriya-deb not in that order though.
Maximilian (@maximilian)
2nd April 2019, 22:12
Only this time Verstappen was figuratively burning up the grid instead of literally.
charlie
3rd April 2019, 10:13
1994 WDC standings: SCH world champion, VER 10th. So when have they topped the timesheet together exactly?
John Beak (@johnbeak)
2nd April 2019, 17:16
Unusual weather in the Middle East as the in-season F1 test is disrupted Bahrain.
w0o0dy
2nd April 2019, 17:45
If you compare the best time by Max today with the best time from Sainz on Saturday you could conclude the track was 2 seconds slower… Yet Max only lost 0.6s compared to Saturday. I guess they really found a few things especially since he surely didn’t use the “party-mode”. So maybe 2 seconds slower for track conditions is a bit too extreme. Let’s say 1s tot 1,5 slower is where the track was at today.. then 0,6 slower would mean Max could have done a time close to the pole, faster than Q3 from Hamilton with the set-up from today in conditions simular to Saturday.
Yup I think they have learnt quite a bit about the set-up.
Von Smallhausen (@engelbertvonsmallhausen)
2nd April 2019, 18:26
But maybe the track was quicker, and they all were sandbagging except for Verstappen…..
Moi
2nd April 2019, 19:26
Why would you sandbag during testing days on a circuit that has already had its GP this season?
Dale
3rd April 2019, 0:03
2+2=72 then?
w0o0dy
2nd April 2019, 17:54
I understand why they sent Mick Schumacher out on C5. That makes for good headlines… But 1,2 seconds slower for tyre correction and then correct for the track conditions (say we substract 1,5) that puts him around Gasly and Albon. So he’s still 1,7 seconds off the time from Vettel on Saturday if we correct for tyres and track conditions.
Nothing really amazing. Just a solid run today.
Dale
3rd April 2019, 0:05
another 2+2=142 this time though
You are making WAAAAAY too many assumptions with WAAAAY too little data and inside information.
Ross
3rd April 2019, 0:59
+1 , finally.
KN
3rd April 2019, 5:54
Not sure why all the hate for Schumacher jr. Happy to see everyone triumph. Especially the kids. This is a young persons sport. Faster reflexes. Less risk aversion.
Sure you have Kimi. But he’s really and outlier.
JohnH (@johnrkh)
3rd April 2019, 8:01
KN
Not really, most WDCs win more at a later stage in their careers. The ones that gain experience without losing speed end up champions.
I read those posts and it is beyond me where you get the idea anyone hates Mick Schumacher.
Bit of a silly comment.
regs (@regs)
3rd April 2019, 13:32
It not about hating Schumacher. It’s about dozens of other good drivers who are much faster than him, yet not getting any attention or getting much lower attention and seats in much slower cards.
Alex De (@alexde)
2nd April 2019, 18:41
Verstappen family loves this headline, including Frans.
cm (@cm-cm)
2nd April 2019, 19:25
Just put Schumacher in the Ferrari already…
I don’t like where this season of WWE is headed…
@HoHum (@hohum)
2nd April 2019, 22:55
I see Alonso did 60+ laps on the prototype tyre, do we know how many sets he used ? My hope is that he only used the one set and Pirelli are working on a tyre with real durability.
Dale
3rd April 2019, 0:12
Is there information on the Pirelli tyres they were testing?
Were they 2020 development tyres / rubber, or still 2019 tyres with different constructions?
Have they released any info about whether they fit in the range? The Barcelona test prototypes were medium (3) compounds … same with these?
kpcart
3rd April 2019, 1:56
It’s better to analyse Schumacher f2 debut. Out qualified by Sean galael, started race 2 on reverse order grid pole. Galael started last in race 2 and finished only 3 places and 6 seconds behind Schumacher. In both races Schumacher had another rookie finish convincingly ahead of him. He got the ferrari test because of his name, that is all, they are trying to manufacture a super star. Anyone with enough time in an f1 car can become good, look at stroll now. Schumacher is jumping the queue of better drivers because of his name, but so far seems no better than Brunno Senna who also had the ‘name’
Didi
3rd April 2019, 5:34
Agreed. Can’t help feel it’ll all get a bit embarrassing for him once reality sets in.
Nitzo (@webtel)
3rd April 2019, 7:24
Mercedes once again topping the mileage charts. Seems to me like they are the a team with extreme focus and meticulous preparation and they seem to not get ‘distracted’ too easily nor burden themselves unnecessarily. This is akin to how Lewis Hamilton is in real life–he’s into a lot of things right from music to investing in a clothing line to super-bikes and yet performs flawlessly come race day and takes one on the chin if they are beaten.
I simply dont see the need for having Mick test the Ferrari now–they have a four time champion making and a future champion who’s already into the good books of all. Ferrari are losing focus and Vettel isn’t helping.