Red Bull Picks Up the Pace
During the pre-season tests, it became clear that Red Bull had pace, and this continued throughout the Bahrain weekend. Verstappen out-qualified both Hamilton and Bottas, and gained pole position.
It feels like an eternity since Mercedes had a proper competitor, and Bahrain showed just how much Mercedes struggles with high-temperatures and windy conditions. While Imola should shine a light on whether Red Bull can continue to fight for the championship throughout the rest of the season, it is undeniable the RB16B has pace which Mercedes doesn’t.
While Verstappen couldn’t pull off a race win, likely due to a differential issue costing him around 0.3 seconds per lap and Mercedes’ strategy, he was able to stay on the podium with P2. During the race though, it seemed like Red Bull were the ones in control rather than Mercedes for the first time in a long while.
“There’s pressure to win a championship, because you’re fighting other people.”
While we all thought he delivered a fantastic race in Bahrain, Verstappen believes he can still be “even better” with the car. The Dutchman told Motorsport.com that he thinks “once you are in that position anyway, with having a car to fight for the title, everything becomes a lot easier.”
“It’s a much better situation to be in, than always just not. Because then you have to take a lot more risks all the time to try and get a good result out of it. You have to risk it a bit more in lap one or a certain area in the race. And then of course, mistakes can happen.”
He continued to say that he is ‘looking forward’ to having ‘a car to be in a championship fight,’ and believes that’s where he’s ‘even better.’
Verstappen is in contract with Red Bull until the end of the 2023 season, but his future at the team is being questioned as Honda’s departure from F1 is getting even closer.
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