Ferrari’s Unlikely Quality Has Left Max Verstappen Uncertain of Repeating His Dominant F1 Run

Red Bull never gave Ferrari a chance at getting a sniff of victory in the season opener in Bahrain. On Saturday, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez locked the front grid ahead of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. On Sunday, Perez did not have the best start but made up for it as the race progressed. Eventually, Leclerc bowed out owing to some engine issues while Fernando Alonso beat Sainz to take P3. Verstappen, however, feels the roles between his team and the Prancing Horse might reverse in Jeddah, owing to the vastly different track conditions.

Last year, Red Bull was the fastest in straights while Ferrari was better in corners. This year, it seems like it has gone the opposite. Those straight-line speeds helped the Austrian team win the Saudi Arabian GP last year, given how long the straights are on the Jeddah circuit. According to Max, that and the low tire degradation nature of the track could help the Ferrari drivers get one over him and his teammate.

Motorsport.com quoted him as saying, “Jeddah is going to be quite different again. Our car seems quite strong in high speed, but I think Ferrari is quite quick on the straight, which in Jeddah, of course, is very nice to have.

“Time will tell. It’s really hard to know. We’ve only really driven these cars here in Bahrain, so we just have to wait and see,” he added. “We’ll, of course, try and get there in the best shape possible and then we’ll find out throughout practice [in Saudi] where we are exactly.”

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Verstappen might feel that Ferrari could trump them in the next fixture, but Mercedes’ George Russell has already delivered his verdict on all the results for the 2023 season.

George Russell throws in the towel after witnessing Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez’s brilliance in Bahrain

While everyone expected Red Bull to continue their dominant run from last year in 2023, not many felt that the gap between them and the others will turn out to be as big as it did in Sakhir. Among them is George Russell who feels that not only will Red Bull once again run away with both championships but also win every race in the 2023 season.

Speaking post-race, the Briton told, “I think they will win every race. Given their performance, I don’t think anyone will challenge them. This weekend their speed looks weaker than they did in testing, which was a little weird. But right now, things are easy and they can do whatever they want.” [Translated using Google]

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While giving up this early in the season looks bad for Mercedes, we cannot say that George’s claims are ludicrous. However, Max’s statement on Ferrari’s pace has certainly made things more interesting.