Max Verstappen pips Carlos Sainz to record fastest lap time in the morning session of 2023 Bahrain F1 pre testing

World champion Max Verstappen topped the table with the fastest laptime around the Bahrain International Circuit in the first session of the three-day pre-season testing on Thursday.

Red Bull dominated the first day of testing, with Verstappen setting the fastest lap with a time of 1.32:959 minutes. Although this is almost two seconds slower than Charles Leclerc's pole lap last year, it was still fast enough to leave both the Ferraris behind.

Carlos Sainz had the second fastest lap, 0.294 seconds slower than Verstappen.

Although Red Bull and Max Verstappen had the upper hand during the first session of pre-season testing, it does not ensure that they have the fastest car. As mentioned above, Verstappen was still two seconds slower than the qualifying lap last season.

This is mainly because drivers do not drive during testing sessions to compete with other drivers, but simply to collect data and to run the car for the first time under the FIA's watch.

All of the teams sandbag their performance, and hence, it is extremely hard to say how competitive each car is. Even the best performers are sometimes found at the bottom of the laptimes, simply because they are collecting data for the team to work on, and getting themselves acquainted with the track.

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What challenge will Max Verstappen have to face in 2023?

Max Verstappen has been world champion for the past two seasons in Formula 1. Although his 2021 victory came with a lot of competition from Lewis Hamilton and ended with a very controversial decision (which is still talked about today), his triumph the following year was much more straightforward.

The 2022 season saw an underperforming Mercedes, which allowed Ferrari to be in direct competition with Red Bull. Charles Leclerc battled Max Verstappen on numerous occasions and had a good shot at the title, winning two of the first three races.

However, mechanical issues and some questionable decision-making by Ferrari ensured Leclerc ultimately lost by a significant margin and the Dutchman was crowned champion after the Japanese Grand Prix.

Since then Ferrari have made some big changes, including their chief strategist and team principal, and are expected to do much better this year. Similarly, Mercedes, who have been running both their W14s rigorously throughout testing, are also expected to mount a stronger challenge to return to the top after losing to Red Bull for the last two seasons.

This will mean that Verstappen will face a number of challenges to retain his title in the upcoming season.