Red Bull gap to rivals could make for compelling Bahrain GP،
SAKHIR, Bahrain — A few days ago, Max Verstappen winning the opening race of the Formula One season seemed like the sport's safest bet. Many went further, believing that Red Bull's performance in pre-season testing looked strong enough to cancel the season altogether and name Verstappen a four-time world champion.
The first three practice sessions of the new season, combined with Friday's qualifying session, however, painted a much tighter competitive picture between Red Bull and its closest rivals. While it is true that Verstappen took his 33rd career pole position on Friday by more than 0.2 seconds, at no point in the hour-long session did the result seem a foregone conclusion.
The top six drivers were separated by less than 0.4 seconds, with five teams in the top eight. Each of them seemed to have an explanation for why a tenth of a second had escaped here or there, with the end result much closer than expected.
Charles Leclerc, who secured second place on the grid, actually set the fastest time of the evening when he clocked 1:29.165 in Q2, 0.014 seconds faster than the time that ultimately secured pole position at Verstappen in Q3. Leclerc believes a repeat in Q3 would have been possible if Ferrari had managed its use of soft tires differently throughout the session and given it two attempts at fresh tires in Q3 rather than one.
“I think it's closer than it looks on the timesheets, but that's a good thing,” Leclerc said. “We expected Red Bull to have a little more margin than today, so we are a little closer than we thought.”
“But the biggest question mark is obviously tomorrow in the race. I'm pretty sure they have a little more margin than what we saw today. But again, let's wait and see.”
Leclerc's refusal to get angry is prudent. Last season he took three of the last five pole positions of the year, but Verstappen took victory in the last five races. Throughout last year, Red Bull's ability to take care of its tires in racing conditions allowed its drivers, particularly Verstappen, to maintain a faster pace while running on heavy fuel than its rivals.
As tight as qualifying seemed on Friday, the race (Saturday, 9:55 a.m. ET; broadcast live on ESPN) it could still be a very different story. Thursday's practice saw Mercedes emerge as the quickest car on the timesheets, but when teams simulated race conditions with heavy fuel over several laps, it was Red Bull who looked quickest.
Over 14 laps, Verstappen averaged a lap time of 1:36.7, while Leclerc could only manage 1:37.1 over 12 laps. George Russell, who qualified third for Mercedes on Friday, looked slightly quicker than the Ferrari with an average of 1:37.0 over 12 laps.
These times do not take into account configuration changes made since testing and come with the usual caveats regarding fuel loads and engine settings, but the advantage held by Verstappen supports the belief that Red Bull still holds an advantage over others.
“Let's wait for the race,” Leclerc's teammate Carlos Sainz said after qualifying fourth. “That’s where they suddenly increased the levels and they managed to have a breakdown that no one can have and a racing pace that no one can have.”
Russell added: “I think we all knew it was going to be very close [in qualifying] between us, Ferrari, Aston Martin, McLaren and Checo [Sergio Pérez], and I think the gap in qualifying today was probably slightly closer to Max than expected. But I think race pace is the most important and we're probably expecting a 0.5 second deficit; That's what we thought after the tests, but we'll see tomorrow.”
Verstappen, who was seated next to Russell at the press conference when the Mercedes driver made his race pace prediction, immediately expressed genuine surprise at his rival's pessimism.
“Half a second?!” » asked Verstappen.
“Is it too small?” Russell replied.
“No, I think it’s way too big,” Verstappen replied. “But if you say that now, then it will be better tomorrow.”
Perhaps following his own advice, the reigning champion downplayed the ease with which a 55th career victory would come on Saturday, referencing his own reading of race simulations during practice and practice sessions.
“We've done quite a few long runs now, to the point where we almost get tired of them,” he said. “But yes, I am convinced that we have a good race car. But I also think that what you saw yesterday in the long runs, the gaps are small, and it is a question of attention to detail which will make also the difference tomorrow.”
The truth, as is often the case, probably lies somewhere in between, but there are enough unanswered questions ahead of the first race to keep things interesting.
