Verstappen: Red Bull engineer forced me to drive SLOWER in Bahrain
Verstappen: Red Bull engineer forced me to drive SLOWER in Bahrain
Max Verstappen produced a dominant victory to kick off his bid for a third consecutive world title but it could've been even more comprehensive were it not for his race engineer.
The 25-year-old Dutchman blitzed the field in a lights-to-flag victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix, finishing almost 12 seconds clear of team-mate Sergio Perez and over 38 clear of third-placed Fernando Alonso.
But Gianpiero Lambiase was in Verstappen's ear telling him not to push unnecessarily hard during the race, the two-time world champion revealed afterwards.
"After that first stint, I just drove home," discussing the somewhat facile nature of victory with Dutch broadcaster Viaplay. "Of course, I had a big gap right away and after that, we didn't really need to push anymore.
"Every time I wanted to push a bit, GP (Gianpiero Lambiase) – my engineer – got angry, so of course that says enough about the race.
"Of course, I'm very happy, it's obviously a top start to the season and a very different start to last year."
That's compared to last year, when Verstappen retired from the race with a power issue.
That same unfortunate fate befell his closest 2022 challenger in the title race, Charles Leclerc, on Sunday.
READ MORE: Verstappen delivers masterclass as Alonso stuns and Ferrari crumble
Verstappen: We have to make sure we keep developing
The way Red Bull bounced back from that situation though, gives reason to be cautious, says Verstappen.
"[Last year] we were in the situation Charles is in now, in which, of course, you're very disappointed," Verstappen said.
"But as you also saw last year, things can turn around very quickly. So we do have to make sure we keep developing."
READ MORE: F1 is for everyone – stop gatekeeping and make room for all
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F1 Standings
Drivers
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Nyck De Vries
- Liam Lawson
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2023
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2023
- Grand Prix of Australia 2023
- Grand Prix of China 2023
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2023
- Miami Grand Prix 2023
- Qatar Airways Gran Premio Del Made In Italy E Dell'emilia Romagna 2023
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2023
- AWS Gran Premio de España 2023
- Grand Prix du Canada 2023
- Grand Prix of Austria 2023
- Aramco Grand Prix of Great Britain 2023
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2023
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2023
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2023
- Grand Prix of Italy 2023
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2023
- Grand Prix of Japan 2023
- Qatar Grand Prix 2023
- Grand Prix of the United States 2023
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2023
- Rolex Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2023
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2023
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2023
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