During the preseason testing in Bahrain and Barcelona, it looked like that Mercedes were way off the pace. Many had counted them out of the championship race alongside Red Bull and Ferrari. But Formula One world champion Max Verstappen knows better and mentioned that the German team will be in the fight with them.
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The Red Bull driver mocked the claims of Mercedes struggling this season. He mentioned that the German team has previously too shown signs of struggles in Pre-season testing, only to win the championship later on. He mocked Mercedes by mentioning that they will finish last just like they’ve finished last since 2017.
Verstappen laughs off claims Mercedes lack pace 🗣 pic.twitter.com/3TLPGqaK6a
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) March 19, 2022
“I think they will be dead last! According to their comments, I think they have an awful car. And they have that already since 2017 in pre-season testing. No, we’ll find out. I don’t know, but they for sure will be competitive,” said Max sarcastically.
READ MORE: Why Do Mercedes Dominate F1?
Max Verstappen reveals he has nothing to prove in the 2022 season
The Red Bull driver won his first world championship at the season finale in Abu Dhabi in 2021. He was utterly impressive throughout the 2021 season and was arguably the best driver on the grid.
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But he mentioned that despite defending his world championship, he has nothing to prove to anyone going into the 2022 season. He revealed that he proved everything that he needed to prove by winning the championship last season.
“I proved that with the most wins, most pole laps, and most laps led. People forget that. They only look at Abu Dhabi, apparently. At the end of the day, it was a crazy and epic Formula 1 season. The losing team will try to take the shine off it a bit. But on the winning side, it still feels good, I can assure you,” said Verstappen.
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At the end of the preseason testing in Bahrain, Red Bull looked like the dominant team on the track. While Mercedes did struggle to get to the grips with their W13; however, it would be foolish to rule them out of the championship. Let’s see if the German team can spring a surprise going into the first race of the season.