Red Bull’s Sergio Perez set a sizzling pace ahead of the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso at the opening practice session of the season in Bahrain.
Perez deployed the soft tire to set a session-best time of 1m 32.758s, almost half a second faster than the rest of the field and more than 0.6s quicker than teammate Max Verstappen in third.
Alonso’s second-place time caused the most interest, though, thanks to Aston Martin’s impressive pre-season showing and forecasts among the leading drivers that the green team could be set to join the front-runners. The two-time champion was 0.438s slower than Perez after his soft-tire run and 0.179s quicker than Verstappen.
Continue reading on RACERThere’s a lot to look out for in Formula 1’s longest ever season. With 23 races ahead of us running all the way to the end of November, the pressure on teams and drivers to maintain a high level of performance will be immense.
And it’ll be doubly hard when new challenges emerge. Will Aston Martin upset the equilibrium between the top three teams, and how might Mercedes handle falling into the midfield? How much influence can Fernando Alonso have on the podium make-up?
Lando Norris is dealing with his third teammate in four years, but for the first time in his career he’ll be the senior driver, not the up-and-coming young gun. Will that throw him off his game or make him only more ferocious?
Continue reading on FOX SPORTSLance Stroll opens up on his bike injury as the hype around Aston Martin’s potential grows.
Everyone is optimistic at the start of a Formula 1 season until the lights go out on Sunday.
F1’s 10 teams will have nowhere to hide this weekend. Unlike the gamesmanship of pre-season testing, which requires some heavy interpretation to make any sense of the times, the stopwatch won’t lie during the Bahrain Grand Prix.
But it’s not just championship points and race wins against which teams will measure success — indeed not every team is capable of winning races, and one or two might not even score points.
Continue reading on FOX SPORTSIt’s a brand-new season of Formula 1, but can Ferrari or Mercedes prevent Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen from winning the championship again?
For the second season in a row there’s only question worth asking in Formula 1: can anyone catch Max Verstappen?
Michael and Rob are joined by some new voices for a special announcement.
Piastri ‘opposite of Daniel’ as debut looms; Stroll fitness in doubt for first race: F1 Pit Talk
Oscar Piastri’s long-awaited debut looms large this week, with just days remaining before the heralded Aussie finally turns a wheel in anger in the premier class.
But despite cracking F1 in his own right after a glittering junior career, comparisons with McLaren predecessor Daniel Ricciardo are never far from hand.
While both drivers have moved on from last year’s messy silly season merry-go-round, it’s now up to Piastri to carve out a place for himself in the F1 landscape.
Continue reading on FOX SPORTSThe time before the first race is generally one for optimism. Hopes and aspirations for the year are still alive in the lead-up to the first qualifying session of the year, when the stopwatch will cruelly show up those who haven’t put in the work during the off-season.
But some will start the year with more than just their own performance on their minds.
With only 20 drivers and 10 teams in the sport, there’s no space for anyone who isn’t performing at their maximum. Several drivers and even some teams will start the year knowing that how strongly they deliver on their potential this season could be career or history defining.
Continue reading on FOX SPORTS