Formula One gears up for longest season in history

The longest season in Formula One history, a record 24 races, revs up for a Saturday start in Bahrain and what could be a long haul for rivals hoping to close the gap and beat Max Verstappen's dominant Red Bull team.

The evidence from the three days of testing at Sakhir circuit last week was that the champions, winners of all but one of the 22 grands prix last year, were set to pick up where they left off.

Despite team principal Christian Horner fighting for his future in the face of allegations, which he denies, from a female employee about his conduct, Red Bull have looked untroubled.

Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren and Aston Martin all made the right noises about their new cars, confident gremlins had been removed and performance improved, but the real proof has yet to come.

The suspicion is that when the flag drops on Saturday night, with the first two rounds of the season in the Middle East held a day earlier than usual to accommodate Ramadan, Red Bull will be first across the line.

As McLaren team principal Andrea Stella told reporters in Bahrain: "There's one car that seems to have found a big step. Unfortunately, the car that was already the quickest last year."

The hope, for fans wanting closer racing at the front and yearning for change after Red Bull's run of 38 wins in the last 44 races, is that the gap - if as feared - will close as the season progresses.

The regulations have been stable for a while and that in itself usually sees a tightening of the field.

"There's more races now so there’s more track time, more data, more understanding, more looking at other cars and seeing what developments they bring," Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo said.

"I don’t think anyone’s pressing any panic buttons. It’s a long season and