Is Red Bull ready to dethrone Mercedes?
He exits the final corner poised to show exactly what he can do on the softest tyres Pirelli has produced for the coming campaign. He’s treated them carefully through the warm-up lap around the abrasive 3.36 miles of the Bahrain International Circuit. It’s close to the same conditions he will face in qualifying for the season opener next Saturday. He is the Formula 1 world champion; the rest must chase. Then comes sudden, unexpected disaster. The rears light up suddenly, and around he goes.
This was Lewis Hamilton at the very end of pre-season testing in 2021, and exactly the same thing happened to Max Verstappen in the dress rehearsal at the same circuit last Saturday.
But this is where the uncanny similarity ended. After going through a full 360-degree spin and trundling around to prepare for another run on the damaged rubber, Verstappen did something remarkable. He still drove his Red Bull to the top of the times. And then he did it again, deposing Charles Leclerc, just when it looked like Ferrari’s excellent pre-season would be rewarded with the headline lap time one week ahead of the 2022 race campaign getting under way. Plus, even though Mercedes’ handling appears to be all over the place and it’s off the pace, as it was in Bahrain testing in 2021, it is for very different reasons this time around. Any expectation that it will simply close the clear gap to Red Bull is seemingly non-existent.
How the leading trio moved clear
The three-day test in Barcelona last month had painted a crowded overall formbook picture, with Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren in the leading mix, and the event dominated by the unexpected porpoising challenge. The first of
