Four-time Formula One world champion Max Verstappen declared his ?new Red Bull not much fun to drive and more like ¡°Formula E on steroids¡± on the second day of preseason testing in Bahrain on Thursday.
The Dutchman put in an impressive number ?of laps and was also second on the ?timesheets on ?Wednesday but sounded far from content about ?what he was driving when he spoke to reporters in Sakhir.
¡°Not a lot of fun, to be honest,¡± said ?the Dutchman. ¡°It¡¯s not very Formula One like.
¡°As a pure driver, I enjoy ?driving flat out and at the moment, you cannot drive like that. There¡¯s a lot going ?on.
¡°A lot of what ?you do as a driver... has a massive effect on the energy side of ?things. For me, ?that¡¯s just not Formula One. Maybe it¡¯s ?then better to drive Formula E, right? Because ?that¡¯s all ?about energy, efficiency and management.¡±
Formula One is starting a new engine era along with significant changes to the aerodynamics and chassis this season, with the electrical component ?increased.
After McLaren¡¯s world champion Lando Norris was fastest on the opening day, not that testing times matter much at this early stage, it was Charles Leclerc¡¯s turn to take over at ?the ?top for Ferrari.
Norris was second fastest, 0.511 ?off the pace, with Haas¡¯s Ollie Bearman third and Mercedes¡¯ ?George Russell fourth.
Three drivers spent all day at the wheel ¡ª Leclerc, Norris and Bearman with 139, 149 and 130 laps respectively.
Verstappen¡¯s new teammate Isack Hadjar was fifth ?after suffering some technical problems in the morning.
Friday is the final day of the opening Bahrain test, with three more days next week. The season starts in Australia on March 8.
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