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Verstappen fastest in pre-season testing

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MANAMA: Formula One teams wrapped up three days of pre-season testing in Bahrain on Sunday with Max Verstappen fastest for Red Bull and AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda close behind in a one-two for Honda-powered cars.


Mercedes and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, recognised they had plenty of work to do before the season starts at the same Sakhir circuit on March 28.


Mexican Sergio Perez, Verstappen’s new team mate, had been top of the morning session with a best lap of one minute 30.187 seconds on soft tyres. Verstappen took over after lunch and produced a best time of 1:28.960.


It was the second time he had topped the end of day timesheets after setting the pace on Friday.


“In general I would say the car feels good and I’m looking forward to going racing,” said Verstappen, winner of the last race of 2020.


The Dutch youngster said before he got in the car that he thought Mercedes were still the favourites but, if so, the dominant champions of the past seven years were hiding any advantage.


Hamilton was only fifth fastest and just quicker than compatriot George Russell who did nearly three times as many laps in the Williams — 157 to Hamilton’s 54. Sunday was Russell’s first day in the car. Tsunoda was the name that caught the eye with the Japanese rookie just 0.093 slower than Verstappen as he completed 91 laps for the Red Bull sister team. — Reuters


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