© Getty ImagesTesting? Completed it, mate.Max and Checo put in mammoth stints on final day of testing
Three-timeWorldChampionMaxVerstappenandteammateSergioPérezputtheRB20throughitspacesonthefinaldayoftesting.MaxfinishedthedayinP4–thefastesttimeonamediumtyre,whilstChecofinished10thplaceafterthemorningstintandcausingtheredflagstobeshown.
Checo took the morning session on the final day of testing and was only eight laps into his run plan before his RB20 went over the drain cover at turn 11 that caused the red flags to be waved. It was the same cover that caused Thursday’s stoppage and it lifted again.
The track was closed for an hour and 15 minutes, but no time was lost as race organisers decided to forgo the hour-long break between the two sessions.
Checo Finding The Limits© Getty Images
When the pitlane was reopened Checo went back out on mediums tyres. His best time on the mediums was 1:31.483 which saw him finish in P2 at that time, just 0.236s behind Carlos Sainz who set his time on a set of soft tyres.
Before the end of his stint, Checo returned to the action on a set of C2 hard tyres and a lot of flow-viz on the rear wing of his car. Checo ended his testing with 12 high-fuel laps in the RB20. And he finished off with three laps on the C3 medium before handing the car over to his teammate.
For the latter session all teams, bar Williams, swapped their drivers over. With the loss of the break due to the red flag, Max went out on track with less than four hours remaining. Max’s session was used to fine-tune the RB20. He used six sets of tyres which ranged between the medium and hard tyres. He completed two long stints, both consisting of 17 laps. The most notable part of his stint was the presence of flow-vis on different sections to gain as much aerodynamic data as possible.
When Max did go for his quickest lap, he was on the C3 medium tyre. He stopped the clock with a time of 1:30.755. It put him P2 behind Charles Leclerc, who had set his fastest time on the softest tyre in the range, the C5. Towards the end of the session as the track was at its best Zhou Guanyu and George Russell, both using the C4 were able to split Max and Leclerc.
How Good Does The RB20 Look?© Getty Images
When the chequered flag was waved after eight hours of testing. Max finished the day in P4 after completing a total of 66 laps. He was just 0.433s off Charles Leclerc in P1. George Russell finished in P2 and Zhou Guanyu finished in P3. All the drivers above Max set their times on the soft tyre. Checo finished in P10 after 53 laps, 1.1612s off the lead. We will have to wait until the season opener in under a week’s time to see what the RB20 is really bringing to the table. Hopefully we’ll see it with the super-sticky soft tyres on. We can’t wait!
Overall it was very good today. We focused on the long running to get more of an understanding of the car and it was good to see the performance of the car was very strong. We made the plan to not focus on pure lap time and tried different compounds, so I am happy with the laps that we did today.
As we head into the race weekend it is all about fine tuning the car and also seeing what the race throws at you when you push the car to the limit. We now need to look into the data a bit more and try to come up with a plan for the week ahead. We’ve had a really positive test and we have learned a lot from everything we changed, so we are looking forward to next week.
It has been a good start to the year for the Team, we have got plenty of mileage over the last few days. The run programme that we put together was very good and meant we really made the most out of the days. Now it is time to look forward to the race next weekend, I have a good feeling in the car, so let’s see once we get to race it, but the feeling is very positive.
Day Three - 2024 Pre-Season Testing
New Season, New Helmet© Getty Images
Your No.1 For 2024© Getty Images
Advice From Hugh© Getty Images
Ready To Get Going© Getty Images
Getting In Position© Getty Images
Media Duty For Max Whilst Checo Gathers Data© Getty Images
How Good Does The RB20 Look?© Getty Images
Another Day, Another Maxsplaining Session© Getty Images
Checo Finding The Limits© Getty Images
Afternoon Session For Max Today© Getty Images
