Ruth Buscombe reckons that Red Bull’s Max Verstappen would come out on top against McLaren’s Oscar Piastri if the two were to race, based on an analysis of the tyre data from Formula 1’s pre-season testing in Bahrain.
The afternoon session saw many teams switch focus to longer stints, as the conditions began to resemble what they’ll face during the actual Bahrain Grand Prix on April 12. With Sakhir’s daytime heat now a familiar challenge, it’s worth remembering that F1 moved to night races there back in 2014.
After reviewing the numbers from their runs, Buscombe felt Verstappen had a slight edge, noting how McLaren approached their tyre usage. But she also pointed out that there were positives for Piastri.
Oscar Piastri ‘struggled’ with tyre wear during the 2026 F1 Bahrain test
Buscombe’s analysis suggested that based on the data from Thursday, Piastri would have overtaken Verstappen on Lap 19 and built up a seven-second lead. But Verstappen was expected to respond later in the race, regaining the lead by Lap 50.
Piastri’s main problem during his run appeared to be tyre wear. The McLaren MCL40 went through its Pirelli set faster than Verstappen’s Red Bull RB22, even though Piastri was on the hard C1 compound. Despite this, he still seemed to struggle with higher levels of degradation.
Speaking on the F1 world feed, Buscombe noted: “Oscar did look like he was suffering a bit on the first stint on C1s. [An] interesting start tyre choice for a virtual race [but it] doesn’t matter so much.”
“But honestly, it looked like it was cumulative degradation that made a difference,” she added. “Towards the end of his stints, you’re really hammering those tyres and it looked like tyre deg made the best of it.”
“Today, it is a virtual win for sim racer legend Max Verstappen,” Buscombe concluded.
Tyre issues make things even more difficult for Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at McLaren
Day two of the final test in Bahrain saw most of the attention go to Ferrari, who introduced a rear wing that rotates 180° – part of their answer to the new active aero rules brought in for 2026, which have replaced DRS. Lewis Hamilton was on track with the setup, giving it an early runout.
Piastri needed that extended stint behind the wheel, especially after McLaren updated their steering wheel to help both him and Lando Norris keep an eye on energy management throughout runs. The extra information came in handy given Piastri’s tyre struggles over longer distances.
If McLaren are dealing with more severe tyre wear than Red Bull and others under the new regulations, it could become a real problem over race distances. Norris has already spoken about how draining it is just driving this car under F1’s latest engine rules.
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