The first day of the F1 Bahrain in-season test was hampered hugely due to rain with Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen topping with a late lap.
It was Haas’ Romain Grosjean leading the way mid-day from Toro Rosso’s Alexander Albon when rain halted the proceedings, with the teams then opting to take an unofficial lunch break – with the schedule not having an official lunch time.
After the sandstorm on Monday, the weather was predicted to be better on Tuesday at Bahrain International Circuit but as seen in most of the Middle Eastern countries off-late, it started to come down as the teams got on with their programme.
The rain did play a spoilsport as the teams gathered to discuss for an extension beyond 6 PM local time to run under the floodlights, but no consensus was reached with the day ending as per the scheduled time with the hope of a better run on Day 2.
The teams couldn’t test the wet or intermediate compounds either as no one had requested Pirelli to bring those compounds keeping in mind the normal weather conditions in Bahrain. After a long rain break, the teams did manage to run more towards the end.
The brief time allowed for Red Bull’s Verstappen to go quicker with a 1m30.358s lap but Ferrari’s Mick Schumacher beat him with a 1m29.976s (C5). However, the Dutchman improved further with a 1m29.379s (C3) lap to end Day 1 on top.
Verstappen completed 62 laps to Schumacher’s 56. McLaren Lando Norris (1m30.800s), who tookover from Carlos Sainz in the afternoon, was third with Grosjean (1m30.982s, C3) in fourth from Albon (1m31.089s, C3) – they undertook 22, 42 and 71 laps respectively.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton (1m31.156s, C3) slotted in sixth, with the British racer opting to test the new bits the team is going to bring in the future races as he completed 77 laps. Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo (1m31.584s, C4) was a disappointed driver in seventh.
The Australian was hoping to use the Bahrain test to get accustomed to RS.19 but could only do 45 laps in all. Racing Point’s Lance Stroll (1m31.964s, C3) ended up eighth ahead of Sainz (1m32.059s, C4) and Alfa Romeo Racing’s Antonio Giovinazzi (1m32.067s, C3).
Stroll did 32 laps which was same for Sainz with Giovinazzi undertaking 53 in all. F1 returnee Fernando Alonso (1m32.207s) slotted in 11th for McLaren with 64 laps done – but the Spaniard ran an unmarked 2020 prototype compound.
The rain altered Haas’ programme as it gave Pietro Fittipaldi (1m32.708s, C3) an early chance in the afternoon with the Brazilian finishing 12th with 20 laps ahead of Williams’ Robert Kubica (1m33.290s, C3) completing 19 laps in the afternoon.
Like Alonso, Daniil Kvyat (1m33.653s) also ran an unmarked compound with the Russian finishing 14th with 45 laps to his name while Williams’ George Russell (1m33.682s, C3) rounded out the 15 runners with the 27 laps he did in the morning hours.
Here’s the list of drivers driving on Day 2