Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen’s teams accused of ‘playing games’ during….

It should provide a better idea of which teams are leading the way.

Many believe that Mercedes, the octuple champions, may be bringing a significant upgrade to the desert with rumours of one that gives them around one second extra per lap.

Ferrari and McLaren have suggested they won’t necessarily be adding to their current setups as they seek to optimise what they have, but fans still expect some improvement.

Ferrari and McLaren – F1’s most successful teams but distant from the top two last year and for some time – appear to have significantly closed the gap.

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen’s teams accused of ‘playing games’ during….

TITLE rivals Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are set to do battle once again in 2022 – and their teams, Mercedes and Red Bull, may well have tricks up their sleeves.

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen have been accused of ‘playing games’ during testing as they seek to hide the true speed of their 2022 cars in Bahrain. Sky F1’s Paul di Resta believes their respective teams, Mercedes and Red Bull, are ‘saving’ their power ahead of the new campaign – and new testing in Bahrain.

There has already been one three-day test in Barcelona – billed as a ‘shakedown’ by F1 – and the teams are expected to bring plenty of upgrades to their new cars in Sakhir.

The circuit is the host of the season-opening Bahrain GP next weekend.

There has been discussion over whether the new era of regulations paired with the fact teams had to design new cars – aimed at improving overtaking – could mix up the grid order in F1.