F1 LIVE! Pre-season testing 2024 latest news and updates as Red Bull make ominous start

F1 testing LIVE!

The first day of pre-season testing for the 2024 F1 season is done and dusted. This morning saw the first official running of what will be the longest campaign in Formula One history.

Max Verstappen was quickest around Bahrain International Circuit, clocking a 1:32.548 ahead of Charles Leclerc and Fernando Alonso, who racked up the most laps. Alex Albon endured the only stoppage due to a minor reliability issue in his Williams, who called a premature end to their day after only 61 laps.

This afternoon, Carlos Sainz, Lando Norris, Lance Stroll and Daniel Ricciardo got into their cars for a taste of the action with Lewis Hamilton starting his final season with Mercedes tomorrow. Red Bull were again dominant. Follow all the latest F1 news and updates from the track with Standard Sport’s live blog!

F1 pre-season testing latest

• Day one: Ominous start from Red Bull

• Morning session: Max Verstappen quickest

Thanks for following!

16:10 , Matt Verri

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner had insisted it was business as usual as the team unveiled its car for the 2024 Formula One season ahead last week.

And despite an ongoing investigation against Horner, Max Verstappen backed that statement up as he picked up where he left off in the start of pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit on Wednesday.

The three-time F1 world champion was comfortably the frontrunner in both the morning and afternoon/evening sessions as the RB20 looked as quick as it was last season in winning the drivers’ and constructors’ championships.

And ominously for the three-time world champion’s rivals, it was also potentially the most reliable, completing more laps than any other driver - 142 - the equivalent of two-and-a-half times the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Read our full report here!

That's it!

16:06 , Matt Verri

The chequered flag has been waved - day one of testing is done!

One down, two to go.

Williams done for the day

15:40 , Matt Verri

Williams will take no further part in testing this afternoon.

Albon and Sargeant have only completed 61 laps, but the team are exploring a potential driveshaft issue.

Newey: We knew everyone would copy us

15:31 , Matt Verri

Adrian Newey has been explaining the bold Red Bull concept for this season.

"It was clear to us that everyone else would copy our car from last year,” he said.

“If we had only relied on further development, we would have been vulnerable."

One hour to go!

15:08 , Matt Verri

Not long to go on day one of testing. Here’s some latest lap times for you...

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 1:31.662

2. Lando Norris (McLaren) + 0.822

3. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) + 0.992

4. Daniel Ricciardo (RB) +1.284

5. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) + 1.412

6. Zhou Guanyu (Sauber) + 2.209

7. Logan Sargeant (Williams) + 2.220

8. George Russell (Mercedes) + 2.447

9. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) + 4.244

10. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) + 4.753

Stunning views

14:47 , Jonathan Gorrie

How it looks in Bahrain

2024 Drivers Championship odds

14:23 , Jonathan Gorrie

Max Verstappen - 1/5

Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris - 12/1

Charles Leclerc - 16/1

George Russell, Sergio Perez - 25/1

Fernando Alonso, Oscar Piastri - 40/1

Carlos Sainz - 66/1

Daniel Ricciardo - 250/1

Via OLBG, subject to change

Two hours to go

14:01 , Marc Mayo

Lando Norris has jumped Max Verstappen with a 1:32.484 to knock Red Bull off the top of the timesheet.

Carlos Sainz in third is kicking off a fresh run on the medium tyres, with a tenth-of-a-second deficit to the McLaren.

Daniel Ricciardo, who has just gone fifth, and Nico Hulkenberg the only other drivers out on track as the sun sets on Bahrain.

New F1 sprint format

13:49 , Marc Mayo

The first of six sprint races takes place in Shanghai in April.

Last year’s format for the sprints broke up the regular grand prix weekend in an unpopular way so F1 has rejigged the setup for 2024.

That means Friday’s will hold free practice and sprint qualifying, before the Saturday sprint race takes place before race qualifying. The grand prix will then take place on the Sunday, as per normal.

Austin, Qatar, Austria, Brazil and Miami will also host a sprint race.

Near the halfway mark

13:41 , Marc Mayo

Lance Stroll was one of the later runners out but is making up for time, passing double digits on his lap count and ninth on the timesheet.

Carlos Sainz’s 29 laps is the most of the afternoon session to this point and he’s showing very decent pace, to boot.

Carlos Sainz challenging the timesheet

13:29 , Marc Mayo

Max Verstappen still holds the fastest time of the day but he has new company on the testing podium.

Carlos Sainz has clocked his quickest lap, just 0.036 seconds off the Red Bull with Lando Norris half a second back.

Zhou Guanyu, in ninth, is the only other afternoon runner to puncture the top ten.

George Russell back in the pits

13:25 , Marc Mayo

After a mighty front-left lock-up heading into Turn 10, George Russell heads back to the pits.

He’s up to 63 laps for the day, which is a far way behind Max Verstappen as the Dutchman leaves the pits for No82 on his counter - Red Bull are tied with Aston Martin and just behind Haas for the most today.

Here comes Logan Sargeant

13:18 , Marc Mayo

Logan Sargeant has claimed to have put on 5kg of muscle over the winter and the newly buffed-up American is about to head out onto the track.

Williams chief James Vowles has spoken to F1’s official channel about his driver’s newfound confidence coming into the new campaign.

The earlier fuel-pump issue is now solved but is behind their delay in getting out in this session, due to how deeply embedded it is in their car.

Stake F1 mystery solved

13:11 , Marc Mayo

We have an answer to a huge burning issue for the Stake F1 team during pre-season testing: what colour flow vis will they use?

With the neon green typical of flow vis already making up much of their livery, they have indeed opted for a peachy red colour of paint for testing.

Alex Albon reviews his morning session

13:04 , Marc Mayo

"It was okay, it's hot and not always nice conditions to drive in. But relatively smooth and only a couple of issues at the end of the session. All fixed now. Trying to understand the car, we still have a way to go and to understand just how different the car is - which it is.

"It was a fuel pump issue, the car goes into safety mode as when they run out of fuel they get very expensive.

"Early days, definitely fixed some of the issues some of our worst corners around all tracks last year seem to be better. As a consequence there are some balance trade-offs which we're combatting now. We've got three days which never feels enough but we're getting there."

One hour gone

12:58 , Marc Mayo

A quiet start to the afternoon session.

George Russell is currently giving it a go on the C3 Medium tyre, and matches his best time from the morning, before Lando Norris heads out in the McLaren. We’ve also got Lance Stroll on track.

More first laps of pre-season

12:49 , Marc Mayo

Nico Hulkenberg is in the Haas in place of Kevin Magnussen while Daniel Ricciardo, who this time last year was in Red Bull uniform, has popped out for a test run in his newly relabelled RB.

Just Logan Sargeant, Lance Stroll and Lando Norris yet to appear.

And a double check of the official timesheet, which shows Lewis Hamilton having come out for a lap even though it’s just George Russell in the Mercedes today - which caught us out a moment ago. Not sure why that’s there.

Here comes Max Verstappen

12:39 , Marc Mayo

Out on the C1, the slowest and hardest tyre, the Red Bull is over 1.5 seconds slower than this morning’s best time.

Zhou Guanyu, Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz have also been out on track while Lando Norris is sat watching his McLaren mechanics at work on his car.

George Russell heads out

12:31 , Marc Mayo

The Mercedes takes to Bahrain International Circuit with George Russell continuing on a full-day stint having also run this morning.

He asks team radio for the track temperature, which he is informed has dropped by 1.5°C. Balmy.

All quiet in Bahrain

12:23 , Marc Mayo

That exploratory Carlos Sainz run has come to an end.

Evening is approaching in Bahrain, local time 3.23pm, which means we will get some floodlight running later in the session.

Wind causing problems

12:13 , Marc Mayo

The aero rakes will be affecting the Ferrari as Carlos Sainz is kicked into the run-off by Turn 10. But also aggravating the Ferrari is a fairly hefty 15kph wind.

That may also be why we’ve not got a whole lot going on out on circuit.

Full 2024 calendar

12:12 , Marc Mayo

A whopping 24 grands prix plus six sprint races, a four-week summer break and a triple header to end on.

Brush up on the 2024 F1 calendar!

First car on track

12:08 , Marc Mayo

Carlos Sainz begins what likely will be his final season with Ferrari by heading out on track, with a pretty jagged set of aero rakes strapped behind his rear tyres.

Green light!

12:01 , Marc Mayo

The track is open for running but nobody has leapt out of their garages.

Plenty of work still be done on the cars after the lunch break.

Afternoon driver schedule

12:00 , Marc Mayo

Red Bull: Max Verstappen

Mercedes: George Russell

Ferrari: Carlos Sainz

McLaren: Lando Norris

Aston Martin: Lance Stroll

Alpine: Pierre Gasly

Williams: Logan Sargeant

RB: Daniel Ricciardo

Stake F1: Zhou Guanyu

Haas: Nico Hulkenberg

Welcome back!

11:55 , Marc Mayo

Who’s ready for more F1, then?

The afternoon session is only moments away...

The story of the morning

11:14 , Marc Mayo

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner had insisted it was business as usual as the team unveiled its car for the 2024 Formula One season ahead last week.

And despite an ongoing investigation against Horner, Max Verstappen backed that statement up as he picked up where he left off in the start of pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit on Wednesday.

Join us from 12pm GMT for the afternoon session.

Read the full story!

Morning session timesheet

11:07 , Marc Mayo

1. Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:32.548 | 66 laps

2. Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +0.699 | 64

3. Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | +0.837 | 77

4. Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +1.110 | 57

5. Yuki Tsunoda | RB | +1.588 | 64

6. George Russell | Mercedes | +1.682 | 48

7. Valtteri Bottas | Stake F1 | +1.883 | 68

8. Alex Albon | Williams | +2.039 | 40

9. Esteban Ocon | Alpine | +2.129 | 60

10. Kevin Magnussen | Haas | +3.144 | 66

Chequered flag

11:00 , Marc Mayo

The morning session of day one of F1 2024 pre-season testing is complete!

Max Verstappen tops the timesheet, with Fernando Alonso leading the lap-count leaderboard.

Everyone out on track

10:52 , Marc Mayo

It’s the last chance for most of these drivers to clock some times today as the first session of F1 testing draws to a close.

Green flag

10:43 , Marc Mayo

The Williams is wheeled away by marshalls, having stopped near an exit road, and we get back underway with 17 minutes left.

Yellow flag!

10:38 , Marc Mayo

Alex Albon has pulled over to the side of the road in his Williams.

There was clearly an issue with his car earlier and having just returned to the track, he has stopped in sector one.

Replays show him launching down the main straight and then he pulls out, potentially having seen a warning.

Latest lap counts

10:35 , Marc Mayo

Fernando Alonso locks up at Turn 10 as he puts his medium tyres through the wringer on a long run. He’s well clear atop the lap-count leaderboard.

1. Fernando Alonso: 71 laps

2. Valtteri Bottas: 55 laps

3. Max Verstappen: 54 laps

4. Charles Leclerc: 52 laps

5. Yuki Tsunoda: 52 laps

6. Esteban Ocon: 51 laps

7. Kevin Magnussen: 49 laps

8. Oscar Piastri: 45 laps

9. Alex Albon: 38 laps

10. George Russell: 38 laps

Bouncing around

10:21 , Marc Mayo

The bumpy end to the home straight is giving a good insight into which cars are coping well with their suspension.

George Russell’s Mercedes certainly looks unstable as it enters the heavy braking zone, with the Ferrari coping a little better. The Red Bull looks immaculate.

Charles Leclerc flying around at the moment with a tyre temperature camera fitted into his sidepod to monitor his wear and tear.

Race run for Fernando Alonso

10:13 , Marc Mayo

The Aston Martin is out on track with what looks like a race run, as he completes lap number 58.

Reminder that we don’t actually know the fuel load, engine setting and whatnot for testing.

One hour to go

10:00 , Marc Mayo

Half of the field in the garage for some final preparations ahead of the last runs of the session.

Red Bull, Ferrari and Aston Martin among them while Yuki Tsunoda in the RB is daubed in flow vis as he asks team radio if the wind has picked up (it has).

Should see a bit more of Charles Leclerc before he hangs up his helmet for the day at lunchtime. Ex-F1 racer Jolyon Palmer has given his verdict on Ferrari’s morning.

"It looks like Ferrari having been adding stiffness to the car all morning,” he tells the official F1 channel.

“It’s making the SF-24 look visibly less and less compliant, with Charles Leclerc suffering a few moments out on track. I reckon they’ve found their upper limit of stiffness, and will now work on dialling it down as the day goes on."

A problem for Alex Albon?

09:50 , Marc Mayo

The Williams darted out of Turns 2 and 3 at full chat before slowing down along the subsequent straight - and he’s now back in the pits.

Perhaps a gremlin to deal with for Alex Albon, while over at Haas there has been some work going on in Kevin Magnussen’s car.

The Dane is among the lower runners on the lap-count leaderboard, with 32.

George Russell has managed the least, on 23, but he’s out on track along with Fernando Alonso, who tops the count with 51.

Who will win the Bahrain Grand Prix?

09:47 , Marc Mayo

No surprise to see Max Verstappen the odds-on favourite to win next month’s opening race of the season.

But the bookies currently have Lando Norris as the best non-Red Bull hope to take the chequered flag. Let’s see how that changes after testing...

Bahrain Grand Prix winner odds

Max Verstappen - 2/5

Sergio Perez - 9/1

Lando Norris - 14/1

Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc - 16/1

Carlos Sainz, George Russell - 20/1

Oscar Piastri - 25/1

Fernando Alonso - 28/1

Odds via OLBG, subject to change.

Max Verstappen improves his time

09:36 , Marc Mayo

The world champion banks a 1:32.548 as he joins Fernando Alonso in the 40s for lap count.

That’s a seven-tenths lead on Charles Leclerc.

It also means we have surpassed last year’s quickest time of F1 testing day one, which was a 1:32.837.

Another look at the Red Bull

09:29 , Marc Mayo

Max Verstappen heads out on fresh mediums, with the McLaren and Aston Martin the only others out on track right now.

Drivers pushing hard

09:21 , Marc Mayo

The aero rakes of the early morning running have now been discarded with as the drivers begin to kick it up a gear and see what they can extract from their cars.

A few wobbles from Alex Albon and Charles Leclerc, the Ferrari still running on those flat-spotted tyres as they look to learn its limits.

F1 testing timesheet

09:07 , Marc Mayo

Another lock-up by Charles Leclerc as he continues to push, with mixed results.

Here is the current state of the timesheets...

Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:33.065 | 37 laps

Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +0.182 | 24

Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | +0.320 | 32

Valtteri Bottas | Stake F1 | +1.366 | 30

Yuki Tsunoda | RB | +1.422 | 38

Alex Albon | Williams | +1.522 | 29

Kevin Magnussen | Haas | +2.627 | 32

Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +2.694 | 17

George Russell | Mercedes | +3.477 | 19

Esteban Ocon | Alpine | +3.498 | 24

Halfway through the morning session

08:59 , Marc Mayo

Max Verstappen is both top of the timesheets and the lap count after two hours of running.

Charles Leclerc locks up

08:52 , Marc Mayo

A fastest first sector for Charles Leclerc as he ramps it up.

But, at Turn 8, he locks his brakes and slides along the tarmac to flat spot his tyre - drawing his push lap to a quick close!

Max Verstappen goes fastest

08:48 , Marc Mayo

That might be a sentence we see a lot of in the coming months...

A 1:33.065 puts Max Verstappen three tenths faster than Fernando Alonso, with Charles Leclerc third.

That was on the C3, medium tyre.

Oscar Piastri clocks his first time

08:41 , Marc Mayo

It has been a fairly slow start for McLaren but no word of any technical hitches as Oscar Piastri finally registers an official lap time, at 1:35.785 to go eighth fastest.

Still, a long way from the dog days of the McLaren Honda which regularly endured nightmare testing weeks - the majority of which were spent in the garage!

Lap count leaders

08:35 , Marc Mayo

It’s not necessarily the times that count at this stage of testing, so let’s look at the ranking in terms of mileage after 90 minutes of running.

1. Fernando Alonso: 27 laps

2. Yuki Tsunoda: 25 laps

3. Kevin Magnussen: 24 laps

4. Esteban Ocon: 23 laps

5. Max Verstappen: 22 laps

6. Valtteri Bottas: 22 laps

7. Alex Albon: 21 laps

8. George Russell: 19 laps

9. Charles Leclerc: 16 laps

10. Oscar Piastri: 9 laps

Esteban Ocon across the gravel

08:20 , Marc Mayo

The first big oopsie of the day comes via the Alpine!

Esteban Ocon drifts wide at Turn 4 and his car snaps into the gravel as he attempts to correct it, and he narrowly avoids hitting a sponsorship board in the run-off area.

First team radio message of the day

08:17

We’ve not been privy to much of the team radio messages this morning, in fact we’ve only just had the first!

Yuki Tsunoda is told by his RB mechanics to watch out for a headwind heading into Turn 1.

A lot of information being traded between pit wall and driver in testing will be a little bit too sensitive for them to want to go public, but let’s see what else is dripped out as the day goes on.

Christian Horner in the Red Bull garage

08:11

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner is at the circuit as he continues to take charge of F1’s reigning champions amid the investigation into allegations over his conduct.

Aston Martin looking strong

08:03 , Marc Mayo

Former F1 driver Anthony Davidson is down at Turns 1 and 2 in Bahrain and has picked out the Aston Martin has incredibly well planted at this stage.

The rear end of the Red Bull has slipped out in the slow-speed section too, he reports on the official TV stream, as the first hour of testing is completed.

Testing tyre compounds

07:58 , Marc Mayo

Once again, this F1 season will see five tyre compounds on offer throughout the season. Each race weekend will be designated three of those Pirelli variants.

Testing has all five available, with the middle compound C3 - the best balance of speed and endurance - by far the most popular.

Alfa Romeo no more

07:53 , Marc Mayo

Currently third on the timesheet is Valtteri Bottas, after Charles Leclerc goes second.

His team will be the only one on the grid to change its name through the course of the season.

That’s because in Australia, Belgium, Spain and Qatar it is subject to different laws on gambling advertisements.

Everywhere else it will be Stake F1, before reverting to Kick Sauber, named after its streaming outlet sponsor, for those four races.

To give it its full name, the team is this year called Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber. Which is a bit of a mouthful for any commentator!

F1 testing timesheet

07:35 , Marc Mayo

1. Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:33.822 | 11 laps

2. Valtteri Bottas | Stake F1 Sauber | 1:35.334 | 7

3. Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1:35.692 | 9

4. Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 9

5. Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:36.157 | 8

6. George Russell | Mercedes | 1:37.397 | 12

7. Yuki Tsunoda | RB | 1:38.570 | 11

No time: Alex Albon, Oscar Piastri, Esteban Ocon

Minor issues for Haas

07:31 , Marc Mayo

Kevin Magnussen drops into the pits after his aero rake experienced some hefty bouncing, perhaps due to a strap coming loose. They need to be as rigid as possible to collect proper data.

Half an hour in, let’s have a look at the timesheet...

Flow-vis time

07:21 , Marc Mayo

Fernando Alonso heads out with the flow-vis paint spread liberally across the right-hand side of his rear wing.

That will, well, flow as he drives around to demonstrate how the air is affecting his car in a visual manner and show his team how it’s all working.

Early times

07:13 , Marc Mayo

Charles Leclerc is officially the quickest driver in the whole F1 2024 season. So far. Technically. By default!

A 1:37.432 has been clocked by the Ferrari with not many cars actually completing a whole lap in the early shakedowns.

George Russell, Yuki Tsunoda and Max Verstappen have also put in official times but not real pace in their efforts at this stage.

Oscar Piastri has now joined the fun with Leclerc back in the garage.

No McLaren yet

07:06 , Marc Mayo

We have had nine of the ten cars feature on the circuit so far, but no Oscar Piastri in the McLaren.

Max Verstappen is out on track

07:03 , Marc Mayo

We don’t have those wide, spade-like aero rakes on each car but the Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari are all donning them early on.

Green light!

07:01 , Marc Mayo

Start your engines!

George Russell begins pre-season testing for Mercedes bearing the aero rakes on the side of his car.

Next in the queue is Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin.

Not long to wait...

06:57 , Marc Mayo

Pre-season testing for the 2024 F1 season is moments away.

Lando Norris dons Gil de Ferran tribute

06:49

The former McLaren director died in December and Lando Norris will wear his name on his helmet in today’s session.

Suited and booted

06:40

It’s bright and sunny in Bahrain this morning, with a mild wind, temperatures in the low 20s and zero chance of rain.

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have both been spotted out and about in the paddock ahead of the track being open for business.

F1 Drive to Survive out this week!

06:32 , Marc Mayo

With the new F1 season comes a new series of Drive to Survive and the latest trailer has dropped, with the release date of Friday this week.

F1 testing driver schedule

06:19 , Marc Mayo

Full confirmation of the driver line-up is expected shortly, here is a provisional schedule for testing, subject to change.

Red Bull

Day One: AM Max Verstappen/PM Max Verstappen

Day Two: AM Sergio Perez/PM Max Verstappen

Day Three: AM Sergio Perez/PM Sergio Perez

Mercedes

Day One: AM George Russell/PM George Russell

Day Two: AM Lewis Hamilton/PM Lewis Hamilton

Day Three: AM Lewis Hamilton/PM George Russell

Ferrari

Day One: AM Charles Leclerc/PM Carlos Sainz

Day Two: AM Carlos Sainz/PM Charles Leclerc

Day Three: AM Charles Leclerc/PM Carlos Sainz

McLaren

Day One: AM Oscar Piastri/PM Lando Norris

Day Two: AM Oscar Piastri/PM Lando Norris

Day Three: AM Lando Norris/PM Oscar Piastri

Aston Martin

Day One: AM Fernando Alonso/PM Lance Stroll

Day Two: AM Fernando Alonso/PM Lance Stroll

Day Three: AM Lance Stroll/PM Fernando Alonso

Alpine

Day One: AM Esteban Ocon/PM Pierre Gasly

Day Two: AM Pierre Gasly/PM Esteban Ocon

Day Three: AM Esteban Ocon/PM Pierre Gasly

Williams

Day One: AM Alex Albon/PM Logan Sargeant

Day Two: AM Logan Sargeant/PM Alex Albon

Day Three: AM Alex Albon/PM Logan Sargeant

Visa Cash App RB

Day One: AM Daniel Ricciardo/PM Yuki Tsunoda

Day Two: AM Yuki Tsunoda/PM Daniel Ricciardo

Day Three: AM Daniel Ricciardo/PM Yuki Tsunoda

Stake F1 Sauber

Day One: AM Valtteri Bottas/PM Zhou Guanyu

Day Two: AM Zhou Guanyu/PM Valtteri Bottas

Day Three: AM Valtteri Bottas/PM Zhou Guanyu

Haas

Day One: AM Kevin Magnussen/PM Nico Hulkenberg

Day Two: AM Nico Hulkenberg/PM Kevin Magnussen

Day Three: AM Kevin Magnussen/PM Nico Hulkenberg

How to watch F1 pre-season testing on TV

06:11 , Marc Mayo

TV channel: In the UK, the entirety of 2024 pre-season testing will be aired exclusively on Sky Sports F1. Coverage kicks off at 6.50am GMT each morning.

Live stream: Sky subscribers can watch testing F1 testing live online on the Sky Go app.

F1 testing LIVE!

06:01 , Marc Mayo

Hello and welcome to Standard Sport’s live blog for the start of F1 pre-season testing!

The 2024 campaign officially starts here with the first official track action taking place in Bahrain.

Cars will be out on the circuit from 7am GMT to 4pm, with an hour lunch break.

The next three days will be the first indications as to who has the pace to challenge for the title in the months ahead, with times important but also reliability and sheer lap count.

Join us for all the latest updates and F1 news throughout the day!