Motor racing-Verstappen says new F1 car is "not much fun to drive"

Four-times Formula One world champion Max Verstappen ​declared his new Red Bull not ​much fun to drive and more ‌like "Formula ​E on steroids" on the second day of pre-season testing in Bahrain on Thursday. The Dutchman put in an impressive number of ‌laps and was also second on the timesheets on Wednesday but sounded far from content about what he was driving when he spoke to reporters at Sakhir.

"Not a lot of fun, to ‌be honest," said the Dutchman. "It's not very Formula One like. "As a pure driver, I ‌enjoy driving flat out and at the moment, you cannot drive like that. There's a lot going on.

"A lot of what you do as a driver... has a massive effect on the energy side of things. For ⁠me, ​that's just not Formula ⁠One. Maybe it's then better to drive Formula E, right? Because that's all about energy, efficiency and management." Formula ⁠One is starting a new engine era along with significant changes to the aerodynamics and chassis this ​season, with the electrical component increased.

After McLaren's world champion Lando Norris was fastest on ⁠the opening day, not that testing times matter much at this early stage, it was Charles Leclerc's turn to ⁠take ​over at the top for Ferrari. Norris was second fastest, 0.511 off the pace, with Haas's Ollie Bearman third and Mercedes' George Russell fourth.

Three drivers spent all day at the ⁠wheel -- Leclerc, Norris and Bearman with 139, 149 and 130 laps respectively. Verstappen's new teammate Isack ⁠Hadjar was fifth after ⁠suffering some technical problems in the morning.

Friday is the final day of the opening Bahrain test, with three more days next week. The ‌season starts ‌in Australia on March 8.