Sergio Perez laughed at his team's predictions-
Red Bull Racing being eight tenths of a second faster than their rivals.
Red Bull's new concepts introduced to RB20 seemed to have been working as hoped for during the pre-season testing that took place last week.
The body language of Red Bull's employees and their comments for the media suggest the team has taken a very good step forward in terms of performance.
The team from Milton Keynes is in the position where they only need to maintain the pace advantage they had compared to other teams last year, and everything ahead of the season's first race suggests they have been successful at it.
All drivers have already admitted that Red Bull seems too far ahead, but the question now is just how far that will be. Someone reportedly suggested the Austrian team might have a 0,8 second advantage. Put this statement to Perez in Bahrain by Sky Sports, he responded:
“"(Laughs) I wish… unfortunately not, it's fast but not that fast, I think the competition around us is gonna be really close."”
Eight-tenths of a second per lap would be a 45-second advantage over the race distance at Bahrain International Circuit. But Perez asserted Red Bull's rivals are much closer.
“"I think we're gonna see the Ferraris, Mercedes, and Aston [Martin] quite close to us. And I think it's gonna be a very though battle at the front."”
What could Perez mean by "tight battle" at the front? We know that in 2023, Red Bull won 21 out of 22 races. That means the team had the upper hand on their rivals up until the season's last race.
We also know the team made a significant step forward in terms of performance, which might be even greater than other teams managed. Is Perez downplaying his team's potential, or are other teams, in fact, much closer to Red Bull than they themselves claim?
