Verstappen’s Bahrain brilliance leaves F1 rivals fearing worst
SAKHIR, Bahrain — Max Verstappen could not have hoped for a better start to his bid for a fourth consecutive Formula One title, with even rivals hailing his crushingly dominant display in Saturday’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix as being in “a different galaxy”.
The Dutch driver took the checkered flag 22.4 seconds clear of his teammate Sergio Perez driving a similar RB20.
He did it having started from pole, led every lap and with the fastest lap to complete a ‘grand slam’.
“Unbelievable, I think today went even better than expected,” said Verstappen.
“It was a lot of fun, I felt really good in the car.
“It’s special to have these kinds of days, where it all feels perfect and you feel at one with the car.”
A close-run qualifying session on Friday and a constant changing of the guard in practice, with three different teams occupying top spot in the three sessions and none of them Red Bull, had raised the prospect of a closer race on Saturday.
The seemingly untroubled ease of Verstappen’s win in the first race of a record 24-round season swiftly dashed those hopes, instead giving way to a sense of resignation and foreboding.
The 26-year-old, barely breaking a sweat as he got out of the car, had similarly won last year’s Bahrain season-opener from pole.
But that wasn’t as commanding as his win on Saturday, with his winning margin then half what it was this year and no fastest lap.
Nevertheless, it set the stage for Verstappen to sign off 2023 with 19 wins from 22 races.
With his Red Bull harder to catch, at least on the evidence of the 2024 season opener, there is every possibility he could go even better.
Rivals are not ruling out the prospect.
“Unfortunately, yes,” Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said when asked if Verstappen could be uncatchable. “(We) just have to acknowledge his performance levels are really strong.
“I think today Max is not in a different league but he’s in a different galaxy — the performance is extraordinary.”
Red Bull strife
Red Bull risks being torn apart as a team and will “explode” if Christian Horner stays as principal, the Daily Mail newspaper quoted the father of triple world champion Max Verstappen as saying on Saturday.
Horner, 50, was cleared week by an independent investigation into allegations of misconduct made by a female employee.
The inquiry dominated the preseason and Horner has remained in the spotlight after an email from an anonymous sender, purporting to contain evidence submitted to the investigation, was distributed to media and key figures in the sport.
“There is tension here while he remains in position,” former F1 racer Verstappen told the British newspaper at the Bahrain Grand Prix, where his son dominated Saturday’s season-opening race.
“The team is in danger of being torn apart. It can’t go on the way it is. It will explode. He is playing the victim, when he is the one causing the problems.”
Horner could not be contacted immediately, with Verstappen’s comments appearing at around 0100 on Sunday local time in Bahrain, and a team spokesman did not respond to a query.
Asked after the race about the email, Horner told reporters he would not comment “on what motives whatever person may have for doing this”, adding: “I have the support of an incredible family, of an incredible wife, of an incredible team and everybody within that team and my focus is on going racing and winning races and doing the best that I can.”
Verstappen senior also denied involvement in the anonymous email.
“That wouldn’t make sense. Why would I do that when Max is doing so well here?” he said.
Verstappen has won the last three championships in a row and Saturday’s victory was the 55th of his career, all of them with Red Bull.