Max Verstappen delivers explicit verdict on Red Bull’s RB20 during Bahrain practice

Max Verstappen has delivered an explicit verdict on Red Bull’s RB20 during the early stages of practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

After a promising spell testing last week, expectations were that the three-time world champion and teammate Sergio Perez would dominate again this season.

Attention is now firmly on racing, with team principal and CEO Christian Horner cleared by Red Bull over ‘inappropriate behaviour’ allegations.

• FOLLOW LIVE - F1 Practice: Start times, updates and schedule ahead of qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix

But the Dutch driver was left scathing during FP1, stating: “Everything is s***. Like, miles off.”

“Very inconsistent downshifts again,” Verstappen later added with two minutes left in session.

Verstappen produced a time of 1:33.238 on medium tyres and was +0.369 to Daniel Ricciardo in the RB while using soft tyres.

Mid-way through FP1, Verstappen was left down in fifth, with Ricciardo and the top four overall all using softs.

Verstappen's teammate Perez was left down in 11th, also on medium tyres.

Adrian Newey’s innovative design has caught the attention of fans, with Verstappen previously backing the new car.

"I trust the team, to be honest, that they have made the right decisions in terms of choosing the right of the car,” he said.

"I saw how it was drawn last year, but I don't care how it looks, as long as it is fast and when I saw it for the first time, fully built, [it doesn't matter] whatever shape it has.

"I would sit in the car and once you drive out [of the pit-lane], you feel quite quickly if it feels quite normal and unfortunately, our filming day was wet so you don't really know anything.

"But as soon as I jumped in, it felt pretty normal. Yes, it looks a bit different, but it is the direction that the team chose and I believe its the best direction to go into for the season."