George Russell, in a moment of candid reflection, concedes that the Formula 1 pack is essentially jostling for positions behind the untouchable Max Verstappen as the 2024 season’s curtain-raiser approaches in Bahrain.
Despite nestling into third place, trailing behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and the anticipated leader from Red Bull, Russell observed that the gap to Verstappen in qualifying was not as vast as many had anticipated.
“We’re expecting probably a half second deficit in race pace,” Russell noted, only for Verstappen to retort that the half-second margin is “way too big.”
Dr Helmut Marko, with his keen eye on the competition, admitted, “we have opponents who can beat us,” on their best day.
Echoing this sentiment, Ferrari’s Frederic Vasseur acknowledged, “On one lap we are on the same level as Red Bull. But we’ve caught up on the long run too. How much? I’ll tell you after the race.”
Toto Wolff, seeing potential in the new Mercedes, believes they could have challenged Verstappen more fiercely for pole position on Saturday, had they not played it safe with their strategy to conserve tyre wear for the race.
“Unfortunately,” Vasseur lamented, “Red Bull is good at both. They have the best car and they push themselves to the limit the most.”
Marko revealed that the formidable new Red Bull faced challenges in Bahrain’s unusually cool climate and brisk winds.
“We worked on it for two days and in the end the Max factor saved us,” he remarked to Servus TV with a smile.
After betting against Verstappen securing pole over Leclerc, Marko humorously confessed to losing a 50 euro wager to Verstappen’s race engineer.
“Half of this amount has to be given to Max,” Marko chuckled, “He’s a tough negotiator!”
He remained optimistic, however, “But we know that our long runs are relatively better than qualifying speed. That’s why we can be fairly optimistic about the race.”
“As expected, Leclerc was fast in qualifying. And although Max did not drive the third sector optimally, it was still enough to be on pole. A good start,” he concluded.
