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There were some unanswered questions following Bahrain’s first and second open practice sessions. Is Mercedes really so quick, and is Max Verstappen in danger? Verstappen appears to be setting the standard for race speed as of right now, according to the data

Max Verstappen appeared to have had a difficult day in Bahrain based on the outcomes of the second free practice. After testing, the competition had already crowned Verstappen World Champion, so it was perhaps a little surprising when the Dutchman only finished sixth in FP2, half a second slower than Lewis Hamilton.

It was evident from watching the second free practice session’s brief runs that Verstappen lacked some speed. The Dutchman lost a lot of time, notably in the third sector, when when compared to Hamilton himself fastest lap. Regarding the significant distinction, Verstappen himself stated as much. “There was no mishap. They’re near to one another. Some nearby tampered with the engine even more to achieve maximum speed. We gave the lengthy runs a little more attention, and I’m really pleased with the car.”

The point regarding top speed in particular is important. Only two right-hand curves and a lengthy straight make up the third sector.

However, it should be noted that Verstappen only lost 0.094 seconds in the opening sector, when peak speed is equally crucial. Maybe Red Bull makes up for it there with its potent DRS. In the first sector, there are two DRS zones after all.

As a whole, Hamilton found Mercedes-Benz’ speed to be pleasantly surprising. “It’s an unexpected surprise when you see on which we are right away,” he commented. To get even more out of it, we must be vigilant and continue to improve the setup. Long term, our speed is nowhere close to Red Bull’s. We still have work to do on it.”

However might Hamilton possessed something to say when he discusses Mercedes’ extended winning streaks?

Verstappen did shine on the C3 compound during the second free practice, which was a representative session in terms of timing and conditions. Almost all of the leading teams ran a long run on the softs.

The current world champion ran a fairly steady stint, nearly always posting timings in the 1:36 zone, with the exception of Less so were Mercedes and Ferrari. Russell was the best indication because Hamilton had a shaky stint maneuvering through traffic.

In addition to being two to four tenths slower than Verstappen on average, the Briton’s pace increased as his tires wore down. Russell was often as much as eight tenths slower towards the conclusion of the stint than he was at the beginning when he was able to keep up with Verstappen.

Of course, slapping someone on the wrist never hurts. It is unknown how much fuel each driver and team was using, but Ferrari in particular was a little disappointing if the fuel was distributed pretty evenly.

Though their performances were often nowhere like as good as Verstappen’s, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were much more reliable than they were the previous season. Leclerc finished in sub 1:37 twice overall.