Carlos Sainz asserted confidence in his team's progress as he suggested he isn't afraid of "very quick" Red Bulls ahead of the season's first race.
One main conclusion that we can derive from the pre-season testing at Bahrain International Circuits is that Red Bull didn't miss the mark with their RB20.
The small risk that the team took with the brave design seems to have paid off in terms of the pace, and now, it remains to be seen just how much the team time per lap the team from Milton Keynes has gained with their new concept.
The Red Bull Racing team advisor, Helmut Marko, said he expects an advantage of about three-tenths per lap over their rivals. Put this statement to him, Carlos Sainz responded to the media in Bahrain:
"I don't know if it's three-tenths, one-tenth, half a second, it's impossible to know right now with fuel loads and engine modes."
While Max Verstappen gapped everyone by more than a second on Wednesday, Sainz set the fastest lap time of all three days of testing on Thursday.
"But I can already tell you that they've done it looks from the outside a really good car. You can already see by the design it's half a step ahead of the others and they've had more time to develop it considering the advantage they had last year."
While the Spaniard admitted, Red Bull does look like a very strong contender for the title, when he was asked if he is afraid of the team from Milton Keynes, he said:
"No, afraid is not the right word. Obviously you see them being very quick. We were quick also. But, I think it's too early to know."
How will Ferrari and Red Bull compare? We will find out on Saturday 2nd of March during the first race of the season - the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix.
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