Red Bull the main focus as F1 testing starts

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DomenicAtkins

F1 pre-season testing: Red Bull main focus as teams prepare for new season

Red Bull will be the focus of attention when Formula 1 pre-season testing starts this week in Bahrain - for reasons both on track and off.

For one thing, the future of team principal Christian Horner is in doubt as a result of an internal investigation being conducted by Red Bull into allegations that the 50-year-old has engaged in inappropriate and controlling behaviour towards a female colleague.

For another, the car Red Bull unveiled at the team's Milton Keynes base last Thursday was a bit of a "wow" moment, even if chief technical officer Adrian Newey insisted that he did not consider it to be any kind of enormous step forward.

The 10 teams have just three days of testing to prepare for the start of the season and can run only one car at a time. So each driver should have no more than a day and a half to become acquainted with his new car in Bahrain.

BrianPowers

I love F1, I’ve been a fan for over 20 years. By the way, for those new to the sport, starting in March and finishing in November, the championship is contested around the world with races in Europe, Asia, America, the Middle East and Australia on a mix of permanent, street and hybrid circuits, Read more about F1. Four of those venues were on the original schedule 73 years ago: Silverstone, Monaco, Spa and Monza. Today, the races, known as Grands Prix (from the French for “grand prize”), last a maximum of two hours and are around 190 miles long. Each driver must pit once for four new tyres – with pit stops taking less than three seconds.