Max Verstappen says he and Red Bull are feeling “very positive” after an encouraging opening day of pre-season testing for the team.
Verstappen set the quickest time during Friday’s running, finishing two-tenths clear of Lando Norris, in spite of the gusty and sandy conditions present in Bahrain.
Red Bull also amassed the most mileage with Verstappen completing 139 laps.
“It’s very good, we had a very positive day,” said Verstappen. “We could do a lot of laps, even though the track conditions were quite difficult – very warm, a lot of wind.
“Of course, we know the degradation around here is quite high and it’s not easy to do a lot of laps in a row. But very happy with today.
“I mean, we don’t need to speak about pace or whatever, we just did our programme, the car felt nice to drive which I think is always very positive to start the test like that.”
Verstappen’s new team-mate Sergio Perez will drive the RB16B on Saturday.
Perez, who has joined Red Bull after seven years with Racing Point/Force India, expects to take a bit of time to get up to speed in his new surroundings.
“I mean, everything is so different, you know,” he said.
“The way you speak about the front wing is just different, you know, the suspension works so differently.
“So, there are a lot of things that you have to get on top of, and then you have to adapt your drawing style as well to a different car so… it’s just normal, I think that it takes a bit of time.”
