Max Verstappen is the current double-time champion of Formula One Motorsport. After three days of pre-season testing, RB19 proved to be the car to watch out for. It seems like Red Bull will dominate the grid yet again. Despite Mercedes looking to improve its car more than the previous year and Ferrari being the second-best team on the race track, Verstappen looks way ahead of the rest.
Apparently, Charles Leclerc and Scuderia are quite hopeful with their SF-23 car. Last season, Charles seemed like he would likely win the whole thing when the season began. He also won the majority of the early races. But somehow, halfway, he lost his way and gave a free walk to Max Verstappen for his second driver’s title. Undoubtedly, Leclerc will not want to repeat the same mistake again if he finds himself in a similar position this year. However, along with the Ferrari ace, another threat has emerged this year that has the potential to become a major hurdle in Verstappen’s road to the third title.
Max Verstappen Believes Alonso Is A Real Threat
The FIRST Grand Prix of the 2023 season, Bahrain GP, begins tomorrow. Every team is excited for their cars to be the best. But it looks like the powerhouses, other than Mercedes, are the clear favorites to win the title. However, as it turns out, the Milton-Keynes-based team is well aware of the progress Aston Martin is making with its car and the veteran driver.
Recently, Max Verstappen mentioned, “Fernando Alonso was the fastest in the first few sessions of the pre-season tests. Aston Martin looks like well prepared with their fast and smooth car.” The two-time champion, who also happens to be the oldest on the grid, is gearing up to make a mark again with his ambitious team and the car. And the current two-time champion, Max Verstappen, thinks the Aston Martin car is perfect.
After FP1 And FP2 Max Is Not Very Happy
On the other hand, the Dutchman believes the RB19 needs improvement. Max Verstappen said that their car is also very competitive but requires a lot of work to do. Verstappen talked about how difficult it was on FP1. The Dutchman mentioned that he could not get the balance right, and it kind of freaked him out. Max Verstappen explained that in testing, albeit it was not perfect, but it was not so far away. The current defending champion said that both the start of FP1 and FP2 was very difficult. He pointed out that the Red Bull team lacked reference and confidence in the beginning. However, the short-run lap was much better.
The Dutchman will just need to figure out how to get the car faster from the short run to the long run. Max Verstappen also added that the team has made a few significant changes that makes the car run better in the long run. In fact after the changes the pace kind of surprised the defending champion. The second driver of the team, Sergio Perez was the fastest during the FP1. But he fell behind Aston Martin’s Alonso and his teammate Max Verstappen in FP2. Perez added that they have work to do on the one lap that will get them faster in the long run. Red Bull knows how to proceed tomorrow. But they should be ready to face their threat in the form of Fernando Alonso.
