Verstappen Emphasizes Red Bull Don't Want 'To Get Ahead' Of Themselves
F1Tuesday, 27 February 2024 at 12:00
Max Verstappen discussed his feelings ahead of the first race of the season, the Bahrain Grand Prix, as he suggested Red Bull is careful not to get ahead of themselves.
Red Bull went into the three days of pre-season testing at Bahrain International Circuit as the favorite and also left the tests as the favorite.
The team's 2024 challenger seems to behave very well in terms of stability, predictability, driving in windy conditions, tire management, and overall pace over one lap.
Almost every one of Red Bull's rivals already admitted they expect to start behind the Austrian team. Fernando Alonso even said that 19 drivers (everyone except for Max Verstappen) on the grid have already begun to believe they won't have a chance in the battle for the championship.
The triple World Champion, who will have a very good chance of achieving his fourth consecutive title in 2024, told the media ahead of the first race weekend:
"I am looking forward to the weekend ahead in Bahrain. We had a good few testing days and learned a lot from the car."
Helmut Marko suggested Red Bull expects to have an advantage of three-tenths per lap over their closest rivals. On the other hand, Verstappen suggested that Red Bull doesn't want to get ahead of itself.
"Of course, we don't want to get ahead of ourselves, and we still need to make sure we do everything right to have a strong first weekend."
The Red Bull Racing F1 driver added that he hopes there won't be any surprises and is excited for the season, which starts with the Bahrain Grand Prix this Saturday. He said:
"Everyone has done plenty of laps here in Bahrain, so hopefully shouldn’t encounter too many surprises in terms of set up direction for the week ahead. All in all, I am excited to get the season underway and start racing again."
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