Red Bull car even faster in 2024 – Max Verstappen

BAHRAIN — Max Verstappen stopped short of predicting a fourth consecutive Formula One world championship, but said Red Bull's new car took a step forward from the team's record-breaking 2023 model.

Verstappen won a record 18 times last year as Red Bull took victory in all but one Grand Prix.

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The team's new car, the RB20, featured a radically different design from its predecessor, but Verstappen was shockingly quick out of the blocks on Wednesday.

Rival teams believe Red Bull is the clear favorite in 2024 and could be almost half a second per lap faster, a significant margin in F1 terms.

Asked on Friday if the new car was better, Verstappen replied: “If it had been worse, we did a very bad job!

“Of course the car is better than last year, but I think everyone on the grid has a better car than last year.

“The team believes that with the current state of the car, there is more potential to be found. It is now up to us to unlock it.”

The future of team boss Christian Horner, who is the subject of an ongoing investigation into an allegation of inappropriate behavior, remains up in the air during pre-season testing for Red Bull.

Sources told ESPN that a decision on the investigation would be expected early next week, ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix, which begins the season on March 2.

Horner called the investigation a distraction to the upcoming campaign, but Verstappen said it had not had a negative impact on preparations.

“I can’t talk about things,” Verstappen said on the matter.

“It's better that I just focus on my own performance because it's already a daily job.

“But I guess of course, for everyone, [will be] It's nice when things are resolved but that's the only thing I can say about it.

“Everyone who is here is all focused on the performance of the car, as they should, and what their role is. Everyone is very focused on making the whole thing quick.”