On the first day of winter testing in Bahrain, Max Verstappen showed an inauspicious pace to his rivals. At the end of the day, he was over 1.1 seconds ahead of the rest, although that lead was somewhat nuanced by Helmut Marko. Aston Martin team boss Mike Krack was impressed by what he saw.

Aston Martin impressed by Verstappen

During test days, it is not known how much fuel is being used. It is therefore possible that Verstappen seemed even faster than expected by driving with a nearly empty tank, although Marko attributed his fast lap times mainly to tyre choice in the lower temperatures after sunset.

Either way, Verstappen's pace on the first day of testing elicited disbelief from his rivals. "It was pretty impressive. They have an impressive car," Mike Krack said in conversation with Sky Sports. "I think it's a good car and so are others. I think we have to be careful not to put too much into such a single run. Conditions change a lot during the day and nobody really knows what the other person is doing."

"It's not the first goal to understand that either. Every team has a very long to-do list that everyone wants to work through. Then the analysis of what others have done normally comes later in the week. And then on to the next week," said the Aston Martin boss.