As F1’s opening pre-season test got underway in Barcelona, Red Bull came up three circuits short of their mileage objective.

Red Bull confessed that they only just missed their distance goal for the first day of pre-season testing, but they were satisfied with how things went.

The’real’ RB18 eventually broke cover in Barcelona on Wednesday as World Champion Max Verstappen appeared from the pit lane after a cautious unveiling event and secret shakedown at Silverstone.

Verstappen and Red Bull had a smooth first day of racing, accomplishing 147 laps around the Spanish GP circuit (more than two race distances), albeit three less than the team’s aim.

“We gave ourselves the optimistic target of 700km and we finished around three laps short of that,” explained the team’s Head of Race Engineering, Guillaume Rocquelin.

He did say, though, that hitting such a high number on the first day of a test felt “quite unusual.”

Verstappen and Red Bull get to know their new car

Following Verstappen’s early encouraging opinions about the handling of his new vehicle, Rocquelin built on a strong start for Red Bull.

“I’m happy because today went really well for the team,” he said, with the RB18 attracting attention up and down the pit lane.

“We did some tests and we have a good direction for how to improve the car. Max is pleased so far.

“There are some balance limitations, but nothing that makes us think we need to turn things upside down to make the car work.”

On Thursday, Sergio Perez will take over as the Red Bull driver.

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