Red Bull confirmed they have the upper hand as Formula One’s new era of regulations opened with the first practice sessions of the new season in Bahrain, while Mercedes continued to struggle. Max Verstappen, the world champion, topped the time sheets in second practice while Lewis Hamilton could manage only ninth quickest.
In the first practice session, Pierre Gasly had been quickest for AlphaTauri. However, in the more representative twilight running, identical to race conditions, Verstappen was on top, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in second. Hamilton, suffering with the porpoising that has plagued Mercedes in pre-season, was more than a second back on Verstappen, although his teammate George Russell did go fourth fastest. The uphill struggle Mercedes expected to open the season appears all too real.
Meanwhile, a number of drivers in Bahrain called for the FIA to publish the report into the controversial events of last year’s season-deciding final race in Abu Dhabi.
Verstappen passed Hamilton for the win at Yas Marina circuit on the final lap to seal his first title and deny the Briton his eighth. Verstappen did so after race director Michael Masi had intervened in adapting safety car rules to the circumstances. Masi has since been removed from his post and the FIA has issued clarifications on some of the rules in question. They have undertaken a full enquiry into what happened which is due to be revealed to the World Motor Sport Council on Saturday.
However whether its findings will be made public remains a decision the WMSC have yet to make. It remains contentious since the FIA’s actions all point toward admissions that mistakes, which cost Hamilton the championship, were made.
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“I think it’s important that, as a sport, we are transparent,” said Hamilton. “I had a good meeting with Mohammed [Ben Sulayem, FIA president] last night, who agreed that’s the direction we should take as a sport and so we’re looking forward to seeing it come out and for people to know that the sport is transparent, that we are learning from what’s happened in the past and that we’ll make improvements moving forwards.”
Several drivers including Ferrari’s Leclerc and Carlos Sainz echoed Hamilton’s opinions. Verstappen however was less concerned. “I don’t think we need a full report,” he said.
