Formula 1 News: Verstappen tops morning times in Bahrain with ‘trick’ RB22 sidepod

Max Verstappen turned the fastest lap in Bahrain’s Wednesday morning 4-hour session in his Red Bull-Ford RB22. The car sported a radical new sidepod exit vent (shown) that serves to rush air out the back of the car alongside and into the rear-diffuser via the slot in the diffuser wall.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

In effect, Red Bull’s goal here may be to create a ‘blown’ diffuser that increases underbody downforce.

Verstappen was fastest with a 1m35.433s, with 65 laps to his name. Oscar Piastri was second, then George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, who was exactly one second off Verstappen’s pace.

Perhaps more ominous were Verstappen’s times on long runs, over 1/2 second faster than George Russell’s Mercedes. His top speed in the main straight was 344 kph, much faster than when he qualified in 2025 with a trap speed of 320 kph.

With all that said, it is still early days, and everyone is still not showing their full hand. This time is five-and-a-half seconds slower than Oscar Piastri’s 2025 pole position lap of 1m29.841s. This year’s cars have 25% less downforce.

Bahrain Preseason Wednesday Morning Test Times