Max Verstappen Dominates Early in 2024 F1 Pre-Season with C3 Medium Tire Brilliance

After two hours into the first session of the 2024 Formula 1 pre-season testing, Max Verstappen took the lead on the timing sheets clocking a 1:33.065 with the C3 Medium tires. Verstappen’s earlier struggles on the harder C4 and C5 rubber were overcome as he edged ahead of Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari by 0.182s.

George Russell of Mercedes hit the track first  securing the ninth-fastest time after completing 19 laps. Fernando Alonso and Valtteri Bottas had strong performances with Alonso completing 32 laps in the AMR24 and Bottas briefly leading before settling into fourth.

Yuki Tsunoda matched Verstappen’s lap count with 37 while Oscar Piastri had a quiet start for McLaren with only 17 laps. The two hours period saw no yellow flags except for Esteban Ocon’s incident at Turn 4 resulting in a gravel skid and a pit stop for repairs in his Alpine.