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A yr in the past, Crimson Bull left the Bahrain Grand Prix locked out of the factors, trying up at the remainder of the sphere as Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez each failed to complete.
A brand new yr supplied a a lot totally different story for the staff.
After locking out the entrance row throughout Saturday’s qualifying session — with Verstappen on the pole and Perez simply behind him — the drivers accomplished the weekend atop the rostrum. Verstappen pulled away from the sphere to safe first at Bahrain, whereas Perez got here throughout the road forward of him to offer Crimson Bull a powerful 1-2 end to start out the season.
The defending Drivers’ Champion mentioned after the race that it was precisely what the staff hoped for.
“That is precisely the beginning we needed, a one-two end. I’m extremely proud that we’ve achieved this as a Staff,” mentioned Verstappen after the race in an announcement offered to the media, together with SB Nation. “I may see early on that we had the tempo within the automobile, I used to be capable of construct a spot from the beginning after which simply managed it for the remainder of the race, it was a simple day for us. It additionally feels good to lastly win in Bahrain, I haven’t had the perfect historical past right here.”
Verstappen’s win on Sunday was his first at Bahrain in ten races at Sakhir. His earlier finest was a second-place end in 2021.
Whereas Verstappen managed to tug away from the sphere, his teammate needed to take care of a number of totally different battles on the monitor to safe his second-place end. Perez initially fell behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, however was capable of struggle his manner again into second, and that place was secured when Leclerc retired early attributable to an influence drawback.
“My begin wasn’t best, Charles was a bit of too aggressive, pushed me to the precise and I did my finest to keep away from him. That meant my first stint wasn’t best, Charles was very sturdy on that new tyre and it was troublesome to get by him rapidly sufficient,” mentioned Perez after the race. “I feel that’s the place I misplaced out to Max, I used to be behind him by about 10 or 12 seconds and after that it was sport over on catching Max, it was all about getting Charles. It was vital to get by him, minimise the injury and get that P2 for the Staff.”
Staff Principal Christian Horner was overjoyed with the outcome.
“What a race! Max actually confirmed he has not misplaced any of his tempo coming into the brand new season, grabbing pole and the victory with each fingers. Checo had a bit of labor to do with Charles, however he performed it nicely after which from there it was about managing the race until the tip,” exclaimed the Staff Principal after the Grand Prix. “The tempo was there, the reliability too, we additionally had a stable pit cease technique. It’s nice to have each the blokes up there inside a tenth, combating over the tremendous margins. That pushes the Staff ahead they usually actually delivered. Evaluating it to final yr, once we completed with no factors, is kind of a distinction.”
Nonetheless, each Verstappen and his boss acknowledged that Bahrain is simply the begin to an extended F1 season.
“Nevertheless, it’s vital to recollect that is simply race one, there’s a number of racing nonetheless to do, however it’s a nice begin, from the entire staff,” mentioned Horner. “It was vital for us to get on the board, get some good factors in early and we’ve carried out that right now. We stay up for see what Jeddah brings.”
Verstappen famous after the race that Jeddah is a a lot totally different monitor than Bahrain, that can carry totally different challenged for Crimson Bull and their 2023 challenger, the RB19. “Waiting for Jeddah, it’s a very totally different monitor with totally different situations, there’s a number of lengthy straights and quick corners, so it’s going to give us a very totally different image of the place everyone seems to be on the grid however at the very least this was an excellent begin for us.”
Nonetheless, with how final yr began — after which ended — that is as near an ideal begin for Crimson Bull.
And one which has the remainder of the sphere questioning the right way to shut the hole on the defending champions.
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