Friday March 26th 2021
Verstappen drives away everyone
Schumacher only celebrates a small debut success
The training sessions for the first Grand Prix of the Formula 1 season make it clear: this could be a very exciting year. First of all, someone who is not called Lewis Hamilton is particularly fast in the front. Mick Schumacher has to take a back seat on his debut, but can boast a success.
It was busy on the asphalt with a possible foretaste of a hot world championship fight and a stable duel with Mick Schumacher: In the Sakhir desert, Formula 1 picked up speed right away. In recently just two one-hour training units, newcomer Mick Schumacher had his team-mate firmly under control, but, as expected, had to be content with the bottom ranks: 19 and 18.
In the front, one person in particular made pace, and his name was not Lewis Hamilton, but Max Verstappen. Whether in the afternoon with 35 degrees and sunshine or during qualification and race time in the early evening: The Dutchman, who ended last season with a win in Abu Dhabi, was unbeatable in the Red Bull. Especially not by Sebastian Vettel. His new Aston Martin with Bondgirl nickname “Honey Ryder” only brought him places in the second half of the table: 12th and 14th.
How much the places and times are worth, in an emergency, qualification has to be shown on this Saturday. It was obvious that the shortening of the training times from two hours and a half to two hours resulted in significantly more action. Just like the first hints of exciting duels.
It’s getting really tight
At the front, Verstappen confirmed his test performance two weeks earlier in the same place. After seven years of dominance in the title of the Silver Arrows, which are again painted in black this year, Verstappen’s Red Bull team is eager for the World Cup triumph and encouraged those who initially thought Vettel’s former employer was the favorite this year.
Behind them, in the windy desert of Sakhir, alongside Hamilton and Bottas, Lando Norris and Ferrari newcomer Carlos Sainz fought for a position in the top four in the second unit, which was well over a second faster. It’s going to be tight, which was also confirmed for the time being. Even debutant Yuki Tsunoda was seventh in the Alpha Tauri, less than half a second behind Verstappen. Vettel couldn’t keep up. The gaps of over a second and a half and just under a second to the top were remarkable.
Mick Schumacher finished the first day of training as a Formula 1 driver respectably. Last season’s 22-year-old Formula 2 champion controlled his Russian stable rival Nikita Mazepin on both occasions. The also 22-year-old finished last in the losing car of the American Haas team in both training sessions.
At the very front, it remains to be seen how strong the new Mercedes is. Hamilton in fourth place in first and third in second practice, plus Valtteri Bottas in second and fifth. The minimum gap to the Red Bull at Mercedes was more than two tenths of a second on the 5.412-kilometer circuit before the race on Sunday (5 p.m. CEST in the ntv.de live ticker).
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