Verstappen's Massive Gap In Testing 'Not As Big' According To Marko

Thursday, 22 February 2024 at 19:45

Helmut Marko suggested the gap that Max Verstappen pulled on everyone during the first day of pre-season testing isn't telling us the whole story.

Red Bull had a great first day of pre-season testing at Bahrain International Circuit. Max Verstappen completed 143 laps and gapped all the other drivers by more than a second in lap time.

Marko already asserted it was "very impressive" and that Red Bull's new concept clearly works. Moreover, he suggested Red Bull was still doing better regarding tire management and car stability than its rivals like Ferrari and McLaren.

Many fans have already started getting flashbacks from the most recent season, which was dominated by Red Bull and the triple World Champion, but Helmut Mark told Auto Motor und Sport the gap is not as big as it looks.

"We estimate the actual lead at three-tenths. The [1.14s] lead is not as big as it looks."

Read also

2024 Bahrain Pre-Season Testing Day 2 - Summary And Results

The Red Bull Racing F1 team advisor explained that no other team went on the fresh medium compound tires in the evening session, which would give Verstappen an advantage.

"We were the only ones who went on the track in the cool evening hours with fresh medium tires. This explains the big jump we made in the afternoon."

It is also important to mention that lap times during the training days are to be taken with a grain of salt as all teams run different fuel loads and setups and work on other things.

Nevertheless, the fact that Marko already expects Red Bull to be three-tenths ahead of everyone is undoubtedly scary for rivals of the Austrian team.

While three-tenths over one lap might not sound like a lot, it is an advantage of 17,1 seconds if we multiply it over the 57 laps of the Bahrain Grand Prix.

During the 2023 season, Max Verstappen finished the Bahrain Grand Prix almost 50 seconds ahead of the first non-Red Bull driver (Fernando Alonso). So this year's gap would be smaller.

On. the other hand, many F1 fans hoped for a tight battle for the title. Could we still see it, or is there another year of Red Bull dominance ahead of us?