Max finishes test days in P2: 'We will see in Melbourne where we are at'
Published on 28 February 2025 by Kees-Jan Koster
Max Verstappen concluded the final test day of the pre-season winter test in Bahrain in second place. The Oracle Red Bull Racing driver, who had finished the morning session in fourth, set a fastest lap of 1:29.566 on C3-compound tyres. With this time, the four-time world champion was 21 thousandths of a second slower than Mercedes' George Russell in P1. Alex Albon put his Williams in P3. Just like his teammate Liam Lawson on Thursday, Max lost a lot of time after midday due to a technical issue. He eventually completed 81 laps.
After the final day of this three-day winter test, Max commented: “I think we had a decent day. We had a few little problems, but overall we completed quite a bit of what we tried to do. I think it was not bad, but at the same time there is still work to do.”
“It was what I kind of expected, we just keep on working and trying to improve. Hopefully we will be ready for Melbourne, learn a bit more, and see where we are at. I do not expect us to be the fastest at all, but at the same time it is very difficult to tell where everyone’s pace is. There is some work to do for us.”
Alex Albon and Max are the only two drivers who, after driving in the morning session, also make an appearance in the afternoon. When the lights at the end of the pit lane turn green, it takes just under ten minutes before we see the second red flag of the day. And if you thought things could not get any crazier after the glass and quad on track this morning, we see a van driving in the runoff area of turns nine and ten, likely having taken a wrong turn. So indeed, it can get crazier.
Once the van is off the track, the circuit is quickly cleared, and we see Pierre Gasly in his Alpine setting the fastest time of the day. At Red Bull Racing, there seem to be problems with Max’s RB21. The floor has been removed from the car, and it will be a while before we see the world champion back on track.
An hour into the session, there is still no sign of Max. The garage is still fenced off, and it is a matter of waiting for the Dutchman to resume the session. Meanwhile, Gasly has slightly improved his fastest time, and George Russell has gone even quicker, placing his Mercedes in P1. The barriers in front of Red Bull’s garage are now gone, the floor is back on the car, but it is still on jacks. It will not be long before Max returns to the track.
The session has been running for an hour and eleven minutes when we see Max take to the track with a set of hard tyres (C2) and the “old” nose. Max completes six laps, bringing his total for the day up to 53 laps. Meanwhile, Gasly has again improved the fastest time, now 14 thousandths quicker than Russell.
On his second attempt in the afternoon, Max is on C2 tyres with the new wing. His first sector is purple, the second yellow, and the third yellow as well. This leaves his fastest time from the morning standing, and he is in P9. After a calm lap, Max returns to the pits for further adjustments to his RB21.
On his third attempt of the afternoon, Max goes out on a new set of medium tyres. His first sector is purple, the second green, and the third green as well, placing him in P3 for the moment. He is just one-tenth off the fastest time, which is now held by Gasly. He immediately returns to the pits.
With one hour and 50 minutes remaining, Max tries again to improve his time. He does, setting the fastest time of the day at 1:29.844, the first lap under 1:30 today. It will not come as a surprise that the quick Dutchman immediately returns to the pits.
On his next attempt, Max again takes a new set of C3 tyres and drives with the new nose on the RB21. He beats his previous time, improving the fastest lap of the day to 1:29.799, a small improvement of 45 thousandths, extending the gap to Gasly to two and a half tenths.
At Aston Martin, the car is being worked on to get it ready for Fernando Alonso. Lance Stroll is probably not as fit as expected, so the experienced Spaniard will need to step in for the final hour. As the final hour begins, half the cars are on the track. Only the freshly returned Alonso, Russell, Nico Hülkenberg, Albon, and Esteban Ocon are out there. The rest are inside, including Max’s RB21. Hamilton is also in after a long run on C3 tyres, with his times somewhat disappointing.
By now, it is dark as Max heads back out after a long break. He starts pushing immediately but fails to improve his time. However, Albon manages to improve his time. In fact, the Williams driver moves to the fastest time, pushing Max back to P2 by a tenth and a half.
With 43 minutes remaining, Max goes back out to try and close the day as the fastest. He does manage to go faster than Albon, reclaiming P1. By the way, Albon set his fastest time on a compound softer than the one Max used for his best lap. Oscar Piastri, with half an hour remaining, attempts to take the fastest time from Max. The young Australian’s effort ends in P3.
With 23 minutes to go, Max heads out again for a run, but it is short-lived due to a spin in the first corner. For Lewis Hamilton, the day is likely over, as the screens in front of Ferrari’s pit box indicate issues with the car. As the final twelve minutes begin, the question is who will go out on a fresh set of tyres for a final attempt to finish the day as the fastest.
Piastri and Max head out almost simultaneously but fail to improve their times. However, Russell manages to do so. The British Mercedes driver pulls a long nose at the competition, taking the fastest time from Max, who finishes the day in P2. Thus, the final test day concludes in preparation for the new season, which begins in just over two weeks in Australia.