As a sandstorm engulfed the Bahrain International Circuit on the afternoon of day one of pre-season testing, Max Verstappen went fastest for Red Bull – but Mercedes struggled with a gearbox issue and then a lack of pace, finishing the day with just 48 laps, the fewest of all the teams, and well down the time sheets. Verstappen enjoyed the whole day in the Red Bull RB16B – with team mate Sergio Perez set to drive on Saturday – and finished the morning third, before improving under the floodlights to take first with a fastest time of 1m30.626s on mediums. Bar a spin in the first session, Verstappen's Friday was incident-free.