Max Verstappen topped the times for Red Bull ahead of Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas in Friday’s opening free practice session ahead of this weekend’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
On a beautiful blue-skied day back at the track where Red Bull had dominated pre-season testing, the Dutchman continued where he had left off with an imperious late lap of 1:31.394 to finish top of the pile.
He was half a second clear of Mercedes’ defending champion Lewis Hamilton, who was fourth behind fellow Briton Lando Norris of McLaren but one place ahead of Charles Leclerc in a revitalized Ferrari.
Sergio Perez was sixth in his first run after moving to Red Bull ahead of Pierre Gasly of Alph…
Keep on reading: Verstappen tops Bahrain practice as Red Bull deliver on speed