Domination repeats itself
The 2024 season has started again with the same result as the GP of the last world championship, at least as regards the name of the winner. In Bahrain it was once again Max Verstappen to climb to the top step of the podium, with the Red Bull who can also enjoy one double to the premiere in 2024 thanks to the 2nd place of Sergio Perez.
All perfect
A Hat Trick for the Dutchman, who always ended a practically perfect weekend in the lead: “It was definitely very enjoyable – he declared to Sky Sport F1 – the car was really nice to drive, I felt her more at one with me than in the last few days because I was able to manage the tires better and this gives you a certain advantage in terms of pace compared to the others. I expected the others to be closer, but today we took a step forward, while maybe the others didn't. I felt better with the car, and the victory just shows that we are only focused on performance and what we have to do.”
Words that are added to those reported by the official Red Bull channels: “Today it was a special day – he continued – days like this don't happen often, where the car is perfect, including the balance and feel of the car, and everything went very well. The start was good and then we looked after the car very well, so for me it was a pleasant race. We managed to find a good rhythm and pace on this track and the intensity and direction of the wind helped me get a bit more out of the car. This is one of our strongest circuits and ahead of Jeddah we know that the track is very different, with lots of high-speed corners and less degradation. I hope I can bring the same performance next week too: it will be a challenge, but I can't wait. We must thank all the factory employees who contributed to this great start to the year. It's always a great challenge to build a new car and follow up such an incredible season, but I'm thrilled to start this season with a win.”
The regret of the Qualification for Checo
More embittered, if I may say so, was Sergio Perez. Not so much for the result of the race, but for a performance in qualifying that did not allow him to fight with his teammate: “Starting next to him I think my race would have been very different – he admitted to Sky Sport F1 – right from the first stint I would have been able to extend as much as he did. There is so much degradation here. When I started the race I was in a very different position to that of Max, therefore I definitely need to improve my performance in qualifying to be able to leave later”. Even in this circumstance, 'Checo' still underlined his satisfaction: “It was a really positive race from the Team, it's an excellent start to the season, you can't get better than a double to start a year that promises to be very competitive – he added – I overtook Carlos at the start and from there we managed to make up ground. There have been some issues we need to resolve, but now it's important to keep the momentum going. As far as I'm concerned, it's good to have a full race distance behind us, because there will be a lot to learn about how to manage the tyres, how to push and then we can go from there. We had a good pace, but I think it will depend on the track. I just want to keep improving because the season is long.”
#Verstappen #race #RB20 #time
