Max Verstappen didn’t go beyond the ordinary, positive comments but without exaggerating. Helmut Marko and Sergio Perez went a little further, both of whom were unable to hold back their satisfaction for a ‘three days’ of testing which offered a Red Bull in great shape.
“There are many aspects that satisfied us – commented Marko – obviously we were reliable and on average fast, but it was above all the long runs of Perez and Max that proved to be clearly faster than our rivals”. Then Marko corrects himself: “Let’s say a little faster”.
Adrian Newey, Christian Horner and Helmut Marko, the triad that runs Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Mark Sutton
After the race pace confirmed in the previous days, the RB19 also took the lead in qualifying simulations, finishing the final day of practice in the lead with the absolute best time after several ‘runs’ completed by Perez using C4 tyres. He was missing this step to complete the picture, and that of Red Bull is a perfect scenario. “
“Behind the results obtained in these tests there is the great work that the team did in Milton Keynes – commented Perez – we certainly have a good basis, and it is a very important aspect because we know we can work starting from a solid starting point We did the best we could, really a lot of testing and a lot of analysis on set-ups and tyres”.
Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
“In these days we haven’t seen the complete picture of the values in the field – continued Checo – but I was able to see our improvements, we didn’t have any problems that could have affected the work programme. The expectation for next week? We want to be up there… it will be an important weekend, and everything is ready to start the season in a very different way than twelve months ago”.
From what we have seen in the work program completed today by Perez, Red Bull has taken a good time advantage thanks to the good performance that the single-seater has confirmed since the first day of testing.
While many rivals were still engaged in the typical activities that take place on a ‘raw’ car, at Red Bull they were already focused on the fine-tuning details. “The implementation was perfect – confirmed Marko – and this allowed us to speed up the work and go into the details of a very precise setup. Now we’ll evaluate whether, in view of next weekend, we’ll aim more in the direction of ‘qualifying’ to keep up with Ferrari, who we think could be strong over a single lap, or if we’ll focus on a race car”.
There are two different judgments in the paddock. In the long run, Red Bull is the favourite, but we know that the season is long and as such it allows for recoveries and changes of course. There will be different tracks to deal with, very different environmental conditions compared to those of Sakhir and so on. But on the race weekend scheduled for next week there is almost total unanimity, unlikely that the first victory of the season can escape Red Bull.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W14
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
On the other hand, opinions are split by an unprecedented comparison, which is difficult to predict on the eve of these tests, and it is the one between Mercedes and Aston Martin. The race simulation completed today by Alonso is in fact up to the Mercedes, with tire management that seemed even better than what was shown by the W14.
Fernando, but this isn’t news, he’s at his best, to the point of not wanting to raise too many expectations. And when ‘Nando’ plays the prudent one, something good is to be expected.
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