Max Verstappen started the 2024 season from exactly where he ended the 2023 season.
Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen at Bahrain GP (Via IMAGO)
In the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday night, Max Verstappen skillfully turned pole position into a victory with a composed drive. He finished ahead of Ferrari rival Carlos Sainz at P3 and Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez at P2, setting the stage for an excellent start to his latest title defense. He started the race and dominated fashion and ended on the same note.
After the 57 scheduled laps, he crossed the finish line 22 seconds ahead of Perez, who made up for his low qualifying effort to complete a Red Bull one-two. Perez who qualified for the fifth position made it into the second race position. Overall Bahrain Grand Prix gave an outstanding start to Red Bull. Max Verstappen seems to dominate this year also. The Dutchman is keen for his fourth world champion.
Unbelievable, I think today went even better than expected. The car was really nice on every compound, it was really lovely to drive.
Verstappen said.
Verstappen said he was surprised to see the car’s performance. The Dutchman then added that he didn’t even expect that. Although the car was nice on every compound and it was lovely to drive. Having a 22-second gap shows how dominant is the car.
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Sergio Perez stated ‘Overall, a great way to start the season’. Using soft compound tires, Sergio Perez began the race in fifth position. The Mexican took a risky pass on Carlos Sainz early in the lap. and leaped into P4. The Mexican driver continued, cutting down on the total time to Charles Leclerc after this. Perez passed the Monegasque driver for the P3 position by lap 7.
Christian Horner and Sergio Perez (Via: Imago)
The Mexican driver then began to close the gap on George Russell for straight seven laps. However, the Mercedes driver made an error at Lap 14 when checking on Perez in the mirrors. Perez was able to pass the Mercedes driver with plenty of room since the driver failed to turn the corner correctly. Perez moved quickly to pursue P2. Ultimately, Sergio Perez gained three positions over him by using the soft compound tires. Red Bull was able to secure a 1-2 finish thanks to that.
Can Perez, however, compete with Max Verstappen in the same machinery? The question is still open. As we could see today, Verstappen and Perez were separated by a gap of 22 seconds. Since Perez’s contract expires at the end of the 2024 season. He needs to show the team that he is trustworthy and win poles against Verstappen. If Perez wants to stay at Red Bull, he needs to show everyone how good he is. Not like the previous year where there was no consistency in a car like RB19.
