Tight qualifying, dominant race: Max Verstappen explains why the RB20 was stronger in the Bahrain race and puts his own dominance into perspective
In qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix, Max Verstappen felt it was still “super close”, which is why pole position was “a bit unexpected” for him. But in the race, the Formula 1 world champion in the Red Bull once again drove away from everyone. The lead: more than 20 seconds
When asked about the obvious discrepancy between the close qualifying and the dominance in the race in Bahrain, Verstappen says: “I think that for some reason we are not so good with the car on one lap. But luckily in the race it’s very good on most tracks.”
“Of course you focus a bit more on the race, but it seems that for some reason other teams can get a bit more out of a lap than we can. We will look at that for the upcoming races.”
Verstappen also puts the fact that things did not run entirely smoothly on Thursday and Friday down to a certain extent to the conditions, particularly the wind. “The conditions on Saturday with the (less strong) wind helped us a bit more compared to the last two days,” he says.
Verstappen: Car feels pretty similar
At the same time, Red Bull first had to find the right balance with the new concept of the RB20 and adapt to the conditions. Overall, however, Verstappen explains: “The feeling in the car is pretty similar, just a bit better.”
“I think that’s what we really wanted. Last year’s car was already very good – with a few small optimizations here and there. Especially at low speeds, the car just feels a bit better now.”
“But on the whole, it didn’t feel like a completely different car to drive when I got in. So that was positive,” says the Red Bull driver.
At the same time, he admits that there is always “a bit of a question mark” with such a concept change, “perhaps more for me than for the team”. “When you look at the car, you ask yourself: ‘Will this work? But they’ve obviously done their homework,” he says, praising the team.
After the first race in Bahrain, the competition is already predicting that it will be just as difficult against Red Bull this season as it was in 2023, if not more so. What does Verstappen himself think about this assessment?
RB20 unbeatable? Verstappen is still keeping his head down
“Yes, I mean, this weekend we are obviously still very strong in the race. But if you look at qualifying, I put the car on pole, but Charles drove the fastest lap in Q2,” recalls the Dutchman.
“So I don’t think it’s that easy over one lap. And every track is different. Maybe we will have a different feeling in Jeddah (next weekend). And on tracks with less tire degradation, the teams are naturally closer.”
“But luckily we don’t have too many Singapore races on the calendar. Otherwise it might be a bit difficult for us,” jokes Verstappen. Singapore was the only Grand Prix in 2023 that Red Bull did not win. “But we’ll see if things go a bit better on the street circuits this year too. “
