Verstappen aware "anything can happen" in F1's new era

Reigning F1 world champion Max Verstappen is aware "anything can happen" as the sport enters the first race weekend of its new era.

The Dutchman set the fastest time of the second test on the final day of running to finish a second faster than any other driver, pushing Red Bull into the position of heavy favourite for the Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend.

Verstappen will enter his first event as champion with Ferrari duo Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc seemingly the biggest threat in the early stages of the season.

Speaking ahead of round one, Verstappen said: "We learnt a lot at testing in Barcelona and Bahrain, I’m very excited to turn our attention to racing now, it’s a whole new era for the sport and anything can happen.

"The focus is to bring the grid together and make it easier to follow, I hope we see that in the first race.

"Everything is so new so there are a lot of unknowns heading into the first race of the season. I’m looking forward to seeing where we are compared to the rest of the grid come qualifying on Saturday."

Addressing Red Bull's position after testing, Verstappen added: "The car looks good and as a team, we are in a good place.

"The most important thing for us in Bahrain is to have a stable weekend without too many issues and we hope to score a good amount of points."

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