Verstappen lead in the morning division, Sainz second!

In the morning part of the first day of the Bahrain tests held before the 2023 Formula 1 season, Red Bull driver Max Verstappen was at the top.

The winter break in Formula 1 is over; The drivers are back in action with the winter tests in Bahrain.

The first day of the test, in which all 10 teams participated, started in the morning and the drivers had a total of 4 hours and 15 minutes.

The highlight of this long test was when Aston Martin driver Felipe Drugovich, who replaced Lance Stroll, who was withdrawn from the test due to injury, was stranded on the track shortly after taking off. The team confirmed that there was an electrical problem in the vehicle during their inspection, and after about 1 hour of operation, the problem was resolved. The Brazilian driver also made his way back to the track.

Apart from that, in addition to Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz, Red Bull driver Max Verstappen went off the track at various points on the track, but continued on the road.

There were no names that spun or crashed during the session. It was a pretty neat session in that respect.

Max Verstappen was at the top in the first minutes of the test in hot conditions. Carlos Sainz then took the lead and had the best time of 1:33,253.

However, Verstappen, just like Sainz, went below 1:33 on the C3 tire and took the top spot with 1:32,959. Thus, he became the fastest name of the morning episode. The Dutch pilot, who completed 71 laps, was one of the few names to exceed 70 laps in the morning section.

Sainz was one of the hard-working guys in the morning division and went 72 laps in the new SF-23. He finished the session second, 0.294 seconds behind. The Spanish pilot was seen to struggle with the front of the vehicle from time to time.

Williams driver Alex Albon made remarkable laps in the morning division and became the top lap player in the morning division with 74 laps. He finished the session in third place with a lap of 1:33,671 on C5 tires, 0.712 seconds behind.

Alfa Romeo driver Zhou Guanyu quietly completed 67 laps in the morning segment and finished fourth with a time of 1:33,723 on the C3 tyre.

George Russell finished fifth in the session where Mercedes did many different tests. There were various sensors on the vehicle, including a sensor that measures ripple. The British driver completed a lap of 1:34,174 on the C3 tyre, and finished fifth, 1.2 seconds behind. Lewis Hamilton will take the wheel this afternoon.

Haas’ new driver, Nico Hulkenberg, finished 51 laps in the morning division, where he frequently locked tires, and finished sixth with a lap of 1:34.424.

Drugovich managed to do 40 laps in the session he was on the road and finished seventh with a lap of 1:34,564. Aston Martin thus became the team with the fewest laps of the morning.

Yuki Tsunoda was eighth behind AlphaTauri by 1.7 seconds, while Pierre Gasly was ninth with his new team Alpine 1.8 seconds behind.

Oscar Piastri was in 10th place, 1.9 seconds behind McLaren, who spent the morning part doing aero tests.

The second session will start at 15:15.

Morning episode results: