Toto Wolff labels Red Bull as new F1 'benchmark' after testing revelation

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff believes Red Bull is the benchmark team on the F1 grid after its initial performance at the Bahrain test.

Verstappen enjoyed a positive morning behind the wheel of the RB22, tallying 65 laps and clocking the fastest lap of all the drivers.

Red Bull enter the year with its own power unit for the first time, which has been built in collaboration with Ford.

Having enjoyed a positive shakedown event from Barcelona last month, Red Bull has undoubtedly kicked off the new test in strong shape - leaving Wolff impressed. 

“Well, I was hoping that they were worse than they are,” Wolff told media including RacingNews365.

“The car, the power unit are the benchmark at the moment, I would say.

“And obviously if you have Max in the car, that combination is strong.”

The F1 power units have gone through a significant change this year, including a boost to the battery, which is now equal in output to the combustion engine.

Energy management and deployment are set to play a crucial role this year, and it's an area that Wolff believes Red Bull has nailed at the start of the season.

“Look at their energy deployment today,” he said. “They are able to deploy far more energy on the straights than everybody else.

“I mean, we are speaking a second a lap over consecutive laps.”

“On a single lap, we have seen it before, but now we have seen it on 10 consecutive laps with the same straight-line deployment.

“I would say that as of today, on the first official day of testing, which is always with the caveat of that, they’ve done a day to set the benchmark.”

When asked if Mercedes can match the deployment, Wolff replied: “Today, no.”