Verstappen issues Red Bull note of caution ahead of Bahrain GP
Verstappen issues Red Bull note of caution ahead of Bahrain GP
Max Verstappen and Red Bull are runaway favourites for the drivers' and constructors' championships according to the bookies heading into the 2023 season but the Dutchman isn't getting carried away.
Verstappen begins his quest for a third consecutive world championship this weekend in the desert in Bahrain on the back of a massively impressive testing performance, with both the 25-year-old and the RB19 he's driving looking imperious at the Bahrain International Circuit last week.
Sakhir is not traditionally a happy hunting ground for Verstappen, with the two-time world champion never having won there. He finished second in 2020 and 2021 but has yet to stand on the top step of the podium.
With that in mind, and understanding that track variations can lead to fluctuations in performance – regardless of the driver or the machinery they're in – Verstappen is remaining cautious.
"There are a lot of things we still want to work on, and this is only one track, you know, some cars just work a bit better on some particular tracks as well," said the defending champion.
"I think we had three really good days, we tried so many things in the car which were quite interesting, and yeah, we had a great start. The car was immediately in the window, and we had a lot of data to go through and hopefully now on Friday we can start with a good pace."
READ MORE: Verstappen makes ASTONISHING Red Bull claim
Verstappen confident RB19 is an improvement on last year's car
Although you can never read too much into testing times, the Red Bull car was quickest on two out of the three days and Verstappen is certain the car is an improvement on last year's title-winning model.
After retiring from the race with a power issue late last year, Verstappen is hoping to avoid similar ignominy this year.
He said: "Absolutely [it is an improvement]. That’s always been the target, we knew where we had to work on. It all felt good [in testing] but I think it's also important to just be calm and realistic and just keep working.
"I think everything we did in the test was working well, so I hope of course we can have a better weekend than last year [at the Bahrain GP]."
READ MORE: Verstappen to dominate as Mercedes emerge from shadows – What to expect at the Bahrain Grand Prix
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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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