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Verstappen ended the day with a time 1.14s clear of McLaren’s Lando Norris. And while little should be read into the times alone, we can draw some conclusions from the body language of the cars on track.
The Red Bull Racing RB20 was composed and balanced by the end of the day, having begun it somewhat unruly.
RESULTS: F1 Pre-season Testing, Day 1
Even still, Verstappen was 0.8s clear of the pack at the lunch break with a car that was clearly not at its best in terms of set-up or handling.
By the end of the day, those issues had been dialled out and it was a far more stable and predictable beast.
That was obvious through the first complex, where Verstappen was able to maintain a tighter line and apply full throttle earlier than others.
By contrast, Lando Norris had to take a wider line and was far more hesitant when it came to winding on the power.
The McLaren appeared to suffer from understeer when Oscar Piastri was in the car this morning, a characteristic less pronounced but still evident with Norris at the wheel.
But while Norris ended the day second fastest, the McLaren does not appear the second-best car.
So, who is?
It’s a difficult question to answer as both Ferrari and Mercedes look like handy cars, so too the RB – a point that will stick in the craw for some in the F1 paddock.
Whether the RB is at the same level as the red and silver teams remains to be seen, but throughout the day it was composed and controlled with both Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo at the wheel.
The RB appeared to rotate through the mid-corner well, allowing for early throttle application. It also stopped well, too.
The same could be said for Aston Martin, which also seems to be somewhere in touch with the front of the field without being at the very front.
So if Red Bull Racing is clear at the front, Mercedes, Ferrari, Aston Martin and perhaps RB follow.
McLaren looks to have slipped behind that lead group, somewhere around Alpine (which failed to show its hand at all), Haas, and Williams in a condensed midfield.
It is a concern that the team missed quite as much running as it did.
Alex Albon pulled off the road shortly before the lunch break before Logan Sargeant was forced into the shed with a suspected driveshaft issue.
A combined total of just 61 laps between its two drivers is not a great return and leaves the Grove squad on the back foot heading into the coming two days.
There’s also work to be done at Sauber, the C44 looking especially lively at the rear end.
Out of the first corner, where others are planted and able to accelerate through the left-hander that follows immediately after, the Sauber wags its tail in protest of the request the driver has made.
It looks like a handful, the least settled and predictable of all 10 cars. There’s plenty of work to do there.
Rounding out the field is Haas, which looks good on track. It doesn’t do anything especially brilliantly but by the same token it doesn’t appear blighted by any maledies, either.
However, the unanswered question is whether it has the pace over a full race. That was where last year’s car suffered and where the team’s attention is focused in Bahrain.
A settled car is a positive early sign and offers a better initial impression than the Sauber or Williams, but really it will only become clear next Saturday night in the opening race of the season.
Two days of running remain to offer further insight, but the early form guide is broadly what was seen at the end of 2023; Red Bull Racing the class of the field with RB a potential wildcard.
