Max Verstappen continued where he left off in the new Formula 1 season. The reigning world champion won the Bahrain Grand Prix with force majeure, ahead of his Mexican Red Bull Racing teammate Sergio Pérez and the Spanish Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz Jr.. Last season, Verstappen won nineteen of the twenty-two races. “I couldn’t have hoped for more,” Verstappen said after the race over the board radio to his discredited team boss Christian Horner.
In Bahrain, Verstappen started from pole position. The other nineteen drivers only saw the rear wing of his new RB20. The lead that Verstappen built up was enormous and the victory was never in danger. At the finish the lead over his first pursuer, teammate Pérez, was no less than 22.53 seconds. Only at the end of the race did Verstappen have to perform his first and only overtaking maneuvers, when he put the drivers behind in the field one lap ahead.
:strip_icc()/s3/static.nrc.nl/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/web-203spoverstappen2.jpg|//images.nrc.nl/r0S0w1hAS4tx16qm2pmdpIAekNc=/1920x/smart/filters:no_upscale():strip_icc()/s3/static.nrc.nl/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/web-203spoverstappen2.jpg|//images.nrc.nl/NwgLVFWfME4fQTM_1ZiI_R8stBQ=/5760x/smart/filters:no_upscale():strip_icc()/s3/static.nrc.nl/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/web-203spoverstappen2.jpg)
Verstappen achieved a so-called ‘grand slam’ at the Bahrain International Circuit. He was fastest in qualifying, set the fastest lap and spent the entire race in first place. After three world titles in a row – the last with one record number of points – Verstappen seems to be displaying the same dominance this season as he did last season. He can book his next victory in Saudi Arabia next Saturday. Then the F1 circus descends on Jeddah, for one of the three races that Verstappen did not win last year.
Also read
Formula 1 racing for beginners