SAKHIR, Bahrain — Max Verstappen started the Formula One season on the front foot Friday by clocking the fastest times in the first two practice sessions at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver was .095 seconds ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and .235 clear of world champion Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes under the floodlights at the desert track in Sakhir.
Ferrari’s new driver Carlos Sainz Jr. finished the day fourth quickest ahead of Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo, the Australian driver who replaced Sainz Jr. at McLaren.
Fernando Alonso, who came out of retirement to replace Ricciardo at the Alpine team, had a tricky evening and managed only the 15th best time in the second practice.
Veteran Kimi Raikkonen spun his Alfa Romeo and hit a wall early in the evening session, but the 41-year-old Finn managed to get the car back to the team garage without too much damage.
Verstappen won the final race last season with a commanding drive at the Abu Dhabi GP. The 23-year-old Dutch driver also did well in preseason testing this month, offering hope that Red Bull can challenge Mercedes much more strongly this year.
There is a third and final practice session on Saturday ahead of qualifying.
Bahrain is the first of a record 23-race season.
In Friday’s first practice, Verstappen was .298 seconds ahead of Bottas and .503 clear of Norris, with Hamilton just behind Norris in fourth spot.
Hamilton is looking to win a record eighth F1 title to move one ahead of Michael Schumacher, whose 22-year-old son Mick Schumacher is making his F1 debut with Haas.
He finished 18th in the second session and 19th in the first.
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