Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Hamilton’s Mercedes sets pace in practice
LEWIS Hamilton raised hope of taking the fight to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen at this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix after finishing fastest in practice.
The seven-time world champion led a Mercedes one-two under the lights of the Sakhir Circuit, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso third and the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz fourth.
World champion Verstappen finished sixth, nearly half-a-second back for Red Bull.
Verstappen had been regarded as the heavy favourite heading into tomorrow’s curtain raiser in the Gulf kingdom.
But the Dutch driver bemoaned the handling of his machine in the first running and then failed to match the speed of the Mercedes drivers later in the day.
The Silver Arrows went under the radar at last week’s test in Bahrain, but they were quietly optimistic heading into today’s running – and the second session belonged to the team that once dominated the sport.
Hamilton, who has not won a race for two years, was back at the top of the order as the seven-time world champion enjoyed a twotenth margin to team-mate George Russell, with Alonso 0.286 seconds off the pace.
World champions Red Bull were off the pace in both sessions. With Verstappen appearing to be in trouble, team-mate Sergio Perez was only ninth in the order.
“Everything is s***,” yelled
Verstappen over the radio during the first session. “Like miles off.”
Earlier in the day, Daniel Ricciardo finished fastest.
The Australian – driving for the newly-rebranded RB team – saw off Lando Norris by just 0.032secs, with Oscar Piastri third in the other McLaren.
Ricciardo was dropped by McLaren at the end of 2022, but he was handed a lifeline by Red Bull’s junior team midway through last season. He finished 11th in the day’s concluding running.
Meanwhile, Christian Horner’s Formula One future is back in the spotlight after WhatsApp messages appearing to be sent by him have been leaked.
On Wednesday, Horner was cleared to continue as Red Bull team principal following an internal probe by the F1 team’s parent company Red Bull GmbH.
But just 24 hours later, hundreds of messages and a number of images apparently between Horner and the complainant were sent from an anonymous email account to members of the Formula One paddock – including FIA president Mohamed ben Sulayem, Formula One CEO Stefano Domenicali and the grid’s nine other team principals, as well as the media – on the eve of this weekend’s seasonopening Bahrain Grand Prix.
It is unclear at this stage whether the alleged exchanges formed part of the investigation – of which Horner was cleared of “inappropriate behaviour” towards a female colleague – or whether it is new evidence.
Horner has always denied the claims.
Horner said in a statement last night: “I will not comment on anonymous speculation, but to reiterate I have always denied the allegations.
“I respected the integrity of the independent investigation and fully co-operated with it every step of the way.
“It was a thorough and fair investigation conducted by an independent specialist barrister and it has concluded dismissing the complaint made.
“I remain fully focused on the start of the season.”
Horner, 50, was on the Red Bull pit wall yesterday for both practice sessions.
Speaking earlier yesterday, he said: “I am pleased that the process is over, and I cannot comment about it.
“I am here to focus on the grand prix and the season ahead and trying to defend both of our titles.”