Max Verstappen would likely showcase a repeat of his ’23 dominant performance as the Dutchman tops the first testing session at Bahrain.
By Aditya PandyaEdited By Armaan AgarwalUpdated February 22, 2024 / 18:09 GMT
Alex Albon and Max Verstappen (images via IMAGO)
Max Verstappen‘s 2023 campaign was one of the most dominant performances ever in the history of the sport. The 2024 season would likely see another dominant campaign from the Dutchman as he topped the first session of pre-season testing in Bahrain. Hence, amidst this, Alex Albon made some bold claims about the reigning world champion’s performance in the season-opener.
Max Verstappen emerged victorious on 19 different occasions in the 2023 season and shattered multiple records. However, down the season, some races were a smooth sailing victory for the reigning world champion. Notably, the Austrian GP of 2023 saw Verstappen making a last-lap pitstop with a 22s lead over the runner-up Charles Leclerc just for the sake of scoring the fastest lap of the race. Alex Albon recalled that a repeat of this daring move was in the works for the 29-year-old.
Albon claimed that Verstappen would enjoy a whopping 25-second lead during the opening race at Bahrain. Following the lead, the 29-year-old would then pit and go for the fast lap according to the British-Thai driver. Additionally, Albon mentioned that this was how the three-time world champion would also break the world record for the lap time at the Bahrain GP.
Max is gonna have a 25 second lead, he’s gonna go for a pit-stop at the end of the race, and he’s gonna go for his fastest lap, and break the lap record!Albon told F1TV (H&T: @RBR_Daily/X).Discover: Red Bull engineer admits to being ‘surprised’ by Mercedes and Aston Martin’s 2024 challengers as he claims ‘their concept is good’Max Verstappen led the first testing session in Bahrain
The second session of testing concluded with the absence of Max Verstappen in the cockpit. Sergio Perez drove the RB20 during both the time slots of the second testing session after facing some issues in his first outing. However, the Dutchman drove for the entirety of the first testing session. The 29-year-old drove for a whopping total of 142 laps and led the session. Helmut Marko was vocal about his satisfaction with the development of the RB20 challenger for the 2024 season and labeled it “Very Very Impressive”.
Max Verstappen driving the RB-20 in pre-season testing (Via IMAGO)
Verstappen had a lead of 1.140s over the runner-up Lando Norris. Hence, it is safe to assume that the 29-year-old would be on his A-game for the first race of the 2024 season. However, time will tell about the way other teams have developed resistance against Red Bull’s dominating performance from 2023.
The rival teams would surely provide a tough competition to Milton Keynes at the forefront. Additionally, multiple drivers will conclude their final season at their respective teams and hence push extra. Regardless, Verstappen would be in a league of his own down the season and prove his racing mettle solely by his performance in 2024.
