Max won’t pay attention to lap times until ‘Q3 in Bahrain’

Despite Red Bull’s move up the order on the final day of the Spanish pre-season test, Max Verstappen says lap times don’t matter until “Q3 in Bahrain”.

As Formula 1 embraced a new era of ground effect aerodynamic cars, it was Ferrari and McLaren who impressed on the opening two days of pre-season testing.

That was until Mercedes and Red Bull seemingly went for a few performance runs on the final day at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Mercedes topped the overall timesheets with Lewis Hamilton ahead of George Russell, taking the 1-2, while Sergio Perez was third quickest ahead of Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc.

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Verstappen insists that at this early stage in the pre-season the times really don’t reveal anything.

Asked who he felt was on top after Spain, he told the official F1 website: “I don’t know. I don’t really pay attention to the lap times, we’ll see in Q3 in Bahrain.”

Putting in the morning miles @Max33Verstappen pic.twitter.com/NU7TX95kg7

— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) February 25, 2022

Red Bull’s RB18 caught the attention on the opening day of testing as the team unveiled an extreme sidepod design with a striking undercut as well as a narrow inlet, a concept that is very different to anyone else’s.

Red Bull have also gone with a pull-rod suspension, which in itself is unusual as teams normally adopt a push-rod front suspension. The rear