Verstappen’s teammate last year, Sergio Pérez, has been replaced by Liam Lawson this season, with the New Zealand driver set to make his full-time F1 debut in 2025. In the drizzly conditions in Bahrain, Lawson said he was fighting “a few teething gremlins” with his car as he sought to adjust to life alongside Verstappen.

Max Verstappen’s Formula 1 title defence is off to a less than ideal start with Red Bull at the Australian Grand Prix. Second practice on Friday at the Albert Park circuit was a test up and down the grid to see how teams would fare in low-fuel qualifying simulations and Red Bull couldn’t match the likes of McLaren or Ferrari.

This weekend Max Verstappen begins his quest for a fifth consecutive Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship, a feat that has happened just once in the sport, when Michael Schumacher secured five titles from 2000 to 2004. But ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Verstappen reiterated that he is not the current favorite as the season begins.