SAKHIR, Bahrain – Max Verstappen started the Formula One season on a strong note by sweeping the opening practice sessions of the year for the Bahrain Grand Prix on Friday at the Bahrain Int’l Circuit.

Verstappen started the weekend with a fast time of 1:31.394 in the opening practice and bettered that by going 1:30.847 in the second practice to set the early pace as the Formula One season gets underway.

“It’s been a good day again and with the heat and the wind it is not easy to find a perfect balance around the whole lap but overall I would say it was a positive day,” said Verstappen. “There are still things to improve and look into for tomorrow, tire wise and a bit of balance tuning, plus I think it will be even more windy which is a challenge for everyone in these cars. I am pretty happy with the start of the weekend but tomorrow is a different day and we have to see whether we can do it in qualifying when it counts.”

Lando Norris and McLaren put together a solid opening day, ending the afternoon second fastest overall behind Verstappen by .095 seconds after going third fastest in the first session.

Reigning Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton was third fastest for Mercedes, followed by new Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz Jr. and Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas.

McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, rookie AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez completed the top-10.