Verstappen goes fastest to kick off Formula 1 Aramco Pre-Season Testing 2023 at BIC

Verstappen goes fastest to kick off Formula 1 Aramco Pre-Season Testing 2023 at BIC

Max Verstappen set the pace at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) today as Formula 1 Aramco Pre-Season Testing 2023 flagged off at “The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East” in Sakhir.

F1’s two-time defending drivers’ world champion put Red Bull Racing atop the timesheet with a fastest lap of one minute 32.837 seconds, set during the four-and-a-half-hour afternoon session which ended under BIC’s state-of-the-art floodlights.

Verstappen was the only driver today to hit the track for both the morning and afternoon runs for his team. He completed a total of 157 laps, showcasing the speed and reliability of Red Bull’s RB19 contender.

Testing continues Friday from 10am to 2pm and from 3pm to 7.30pm. BIC will be welcoming fans for the first of two open days.

Those who are eager to get a first glimpse of the 2023 cars in action can purchase their tickets at BD5 per day and at half the price at BD2.5 each for children aged three to 12.

Tickets will be available at the gate, at bahraingp.com or by calling the BIC Hotline on +973-17450000. Those who bought their F1 tickets before 1 February have free access to testing for both days. Gates will be open from midday to 7pm to fans.

All those attending the F1 pre-season tests will be able to follow the action from BIC’s Main Grandstand, which overlooks the F1 Pit Lane, the teams’ garages and the circuit’s main straight.

Verstappen led two-time F1 world champion Fernando Alonso on the timesheet. Alonso, in his first season with Aston Martin, was just 0.029 seconds off the leading mark in his AMR23. He tested in the afternoon session and completed 60 laps.

Carlos Sainz was third on the combined timesheet 0.416s from Verstappen’s pace. Testing Ferrari’s SF-23 in the morning, Sainz put in 72 laps of work before handing over the duties to teammate Charles Leclerc, who finished fourth on the day 0.430s behind first place with a total of 64 laps.

Lando Norris (+0.625s) was fifth fastest, testing McLaren’s MCL60 in the afternoon, while Lewis Hamilton (+0.671s) was sixth in Mercedes’s F1 W14, also in the afternoon with cooler temperatures at the desert racing facility.