Max Verstappen topped protocol on the first day of pre-season testing in Bahrain, beating second-time holder Lando Norris by more than a second. However, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko assures that the lead of the champion team is in fact not that big and is about three tenths.
“We were the only ones who went to the track in the evening with a fresh set of Medium when it got chilly,” Auto Motor und Sport quotes Helmut Marko. “This is exactly what explains the large speed increase we achieved in the afternoon session. We estimate the actual benefit at three-tenths.
The day went positively. We completed 142 laps without any problems. The concept of the car works, and that’s the most important thing. The machine responds to all our actions and we get to know it better and better. Everyone on the team laughed a lot today.
Changing a concept always involves risks, as shown by the example of Mercedes – they have had problems with this in the past, but our car has worked well from the first lap. We are happy with this and very proud of it. Plus, the reliability is incredible.
From what I’ve seen, Ferrari has more tire problems than us. The McLaren car seems to be behaving more nervously. As for Mercedes, I don’t know what they did. But it is clear that they are faster than they showed. But we can have confidence in ourselves.
I don’t think our rivals expected us to opt for such a car concept. All cars are similar to ours last year. Will others be able to copy the RB20? Developing such a concept will take a lot of time.”
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
