How Red Bull seized F1 2021's testing narrative, as Mercedes' bulletproof image shatters

Red Bull logged the most laps and topped the timesheets after the first day of Formula 1's Bahrain pre-season test as Mercedes had a disappointing start. Drawing early conclusions is always a dangerous game, but plenty of insight can still be gleaned

Formula 1 is back – but the first day of 2021 pre-season testing at Bahrain proved to be a little different than the recent entries in the historical formbook.

For a start, the test is being held in the Middle East and not the usual Barcelona venue as a result of the 2021 calendar starting in Bahrain thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic’s continued impact on regular sporting schedules. But there is some merit to the argument for a track in this region to always host pre-season testing given the sometimes unpredictable weather in Europe at this time of year.

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Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.