Verstappen fastest in morning session of Day 1 of 2024 pre-season testing

Max Verstappen ended the morning session of Day 1 of 2024 pre-season testing fastest, over half a second quicker than Charles Leclerc.

Verstappen started his full day in the RB20 on the hardest Pirelli tyres, with the new Red Bull looking a handful in the low-grip conditions, as Fernando Alonso went fastest after the opening salvos.

But after a switch to the C3 Medium compound tyres just before the two-hour mark, Verstappen climbed up the order and eventually lowered his lap to a 1:32.548, this is about two-tenths faster than the quickest time from the first day of testing in 2023.

Verstappen posted 63 laps, and was 0.699s quicker than Leclerc and a tenth-and-a-half up on the solid-looking Aston Martin AMR24 of Fernando Alonso, who was the busiest driver with 77 laps before he hands over to Lance Stroll for the afternoon.

Albon and Ocon troubles

The first official four-hours of running largely went trouble-free with the only incidents of note being an off for Esteban Ocon at Turn 4 with cross-winds and an issue for Alex Albon.

The Alpine skated across the gravel and spent time in the pits for repairs by the team, taking a test of 1:34.677 for ninth place.

As for Albon, he caused a yellow flag by stopping at Turn 1 with about 25 minutes of running remaining, but marshals were able to recover the FW46 - now armed with a built-in LED screen into the steering wheel - without the need for a red flag.

Oscar Piastri took fourth for McLaren following a slow start to his morning in the car, with Yuki Tsunoda slotting in-between Piastri and Mercedes' George Russell.

Russell was forced to spend time in the pits with Mercedes making set-up changes, with ex-Mercedes and current Stake driver Valtteri Bottas seventh, having briefly been top of the times in the early stages.

Kevin Magnussen endured a tricky morning for Haas, with a fuel system glitch and broken aero-rake disrupting his running as he finished slowest of all, some 3.144s slower than the Verstappen benchmark.