One second faster
A second and a tenth. This is the gap left by Max Verstappen to his closest pursuer – specifically Lando Norris – at the end of the first day of testing carried out by the teams on the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain. Obviously the times at this moment of the season must be taken with a grain of salt, but there is no doubt that – also thinking about the outcome of the 2023 season – the first impact of the RB20 on the track was disheartening for the opponents.
In a chat with the German journalist Michael Schmidt, well-known pen of the German site Auto Motor und Sport, Adrian Newey he explained the genesis of the 2024 single-seater, which is contrary to what he himself declared in recent months it was not a simple evolution of the already phenomenal RB19, but has developed new concepts. The designer of the Milton Keynes team underlined how variation was essential to avoid the risk of being caught by rival teams.
Change to stay ahead
“We knew everyone else would copy our car from last year. If we had only focused on further development, we would have been vulnerable“Newey explained. Many observers were struck by the fact that Red Bull tried to take inspiration, at least apparently, from cA concept of extremely narrow sides introduced by Mercedes in 2022 and which however has never worked effectively on the silver arrows.
The next two days of testing will obviously have to confirm what Verstappen showed today, but the impression is that – at the starting line – Red Bull is once again head and shoulders ahead of all the competition.
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