As world champion Max Verstappen dazzled under the floodlights for Red Bull, easily topping the charts on the last day of Formula One preseason testing on Saturday, title rival Lewis Hamilton was not optimistic about how Mercedes will fare when the season starts next weekend. ()
Hamilton missed out on a record eighth F1 title on the last lap of the last race last year and is looking to grab his crown back from Verstappen.
Although it바카라s only testing, which can be misleading because teams sometimes have something in reserve, the task could prove harder than envisaged for the British veteran with a record 103 race wins.
Verstappen looked to be in that sleek pole position mode 바카라 he led F1 with 10 poles last year 바카라 beating his own leading time near the end, and going so fast at one point he even did a 360 spin.
Running with the RB18's upgraded sidepods and floor that clearly worked, Verstappen clocked a leading time of 1 minute, 31.720 seconds, the fastest across the three days of testing in Bahrain.
He was around .5 seconds ahead of Mick Schumacher, who moved up when driving alone as the American-owned Haas team was granted two extra hours after everyone finished.
That was agreed in order to make up time lost on Wednesday, after the late arrival of freight shipments left Haas unable to join in Thursday morning바카라s first session.
Before Schumacher's late effort, Verstappen placed .7 seconds ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc when the session ended under floodlights, and in conditions similar to next Sunday's opening race on the same Sakhir circuit.
"We can바카라t read too much into the timing,바카라 Verstappen said. 바카라The new parts we tested today worked well, which is what we always hope for.바카라
But Schumacher's late run in optimal conditions pushed Leclerc down to third fastest; two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso to fourth, and Hamilton's teammate George Russell to fifth. They were both around a second slower than Verstappen, who won 10 races last year to Hamilton's eight.
Hamilton was 4.5 seconds behind Verstappen in 17th spot, although when he drove earlier in the day the conditions were less suitable than in the afternoon and evening.
Still, he wasn't happy about the way it went.
바카라We바카라re not the quickest at the moment, I think Ferrari look to be the quickest. Perhaps Red Bull and then maybe us," Hamilton said. 바카라But we바카라re certainly not at the top.바카라
Hamilton and other drivers have been struggling during preseason testing with what F1 calls 바카라porpoising바카라 바카라 an aerodynamic issue where cars hop and bounce on the track 바카라 and with other issues like tire grip.
Hamilton was only ninth best in the morning run, which was topped by Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez.
Even Mercedes, with its eight straight constructors' titles, has been having trouble getting the car under control.
바카라Everyone's struggling out on this bumpy track, and we come out of it knowing we still have a lot of work (to do)," Hamilton said. 바카라Everyone's sliding around, the tires are worse this year. I hope we can maybe get some better tires at some stage, or maybe that work better in places (that are) not so hot this year.바카라
Russell agreed with that assessment.
바카라It's definitely bouncing around a lot. It's not the comfiest, in all honesty," Russell said. "I don't really care about comfort if the performance is there. But at the moment we do seem a step behind our rivals.바카라
Mercedes finds itself in the rare position of scrambling to find a solution.
바카라We바카라ve yet to find one, but that doesn바카라t mean we won바카라t be able to find one ahead of next week, or later in the season,바카라 Russell said. 바카라I do believe the performance is in there, somewhere.바카라
Hamilton did have some cause for optimism, however.
바카라The positive so far is following behind other cars feels a little bit better,바카라 the 37-year-old British driver said.
AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly, who was third fastest in the morning, agreed following is better than in previous years 바카라 which was one of F1's hopes amid a series of regulation changes.
바카라That makes me quite optimistic in terms of racing,바카라 the Frenchman said. 바카라(The fans) should see some exciting races."
It was proving a long day for McLaren's Lando Norris driving alone on the Bahrain International Circuit, with teammate Daniel Ricciardo recovering from the coronavirus.
Norris thinks McLaren has 바카라a lot of work to do바카라 before next week.
"The slower speed corners is where we struggle," he said. 바카라When you look at Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari, they바카라re quite a long way ahead of us in those types of corners."
