Bahrain Grand Prix first practice – radio & text

A loose drain cover at Turn 11 caused a fair bit of drama during pre-season testing, disrupting sessions on both Thursday and Friday. On the final day of running, the morning session was red-flagged after only 27 minutes of running.

On track, Max Verstappen dazzled his competitors in the new RB20, finishing his full day’s running on day one more than a second clear of the field.

Charles Leclerc topped the times on day three, putting his Ferrari 0.046 seconds faster than the Mercedes of George Russell, with the Sauber of Zhou Guanyu ending his time in the car in third.

All three times were set on the the softer C4 tyre compared to Verstappen’s quickest run that was set on a harder compound.

But testing holds about as much weight as a chocolate teapot, so who knows what we can expect over the next 10 months of racing.