(Motorsport) Reigning Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen will be the overwhelming favourite at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday and given the evidence of other teams’ performance in pre-season testing, it looks like the Dutchman will be dominant once again. Last year, Verstappen broke the record of the most number of wins in a single season in what is considered to be one of the most one-sided campaigns in Formula 1 history. Concerns are already mounting if any driver, including Sergio Perez who is driving the same car will be able to compete with Verstappen for the upcoming season.

Normally, pre-season testing is not the ideal indicator of how teams perform in the competitive season as it gives an opportunity to test fuel loads, engine modes, circuit conditions and so on to test the ideal set up to be competitive. Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko said “Times, as we know in testing, are relative. We don’t know what the competition was like on fuel, so if they were heavier than us, then our time is relative. But it has been shown that we are reliable, that we are fast, at the front. Above all that, what makes us very optimistic is that both of Perez’s and Max’s long runs were clearly at least faster than those of the competition.”

While there are negligible changes in rules from last year, prompting concerns whether Red Bull and Verstappen will be dominant once again, the team were found guilty of breaching the budget cap of the 2021 season, leading to a 10% reduction in aerodynamic research. While that might not have a significant impact on this year’s car design (in its initial form), it will definitely affect Red Bull’s development over the course of their season as well as their 2024 car.

As for Ferrari, the Italian manufacturers are cautiously optimistic ahead of the upcoming season. Last year, race strategy blunders cost Charles Leclerc three potential wins in Monaco, Silverstone and Hungary while engine failures cost him a win at Azerbaijan and Spain. This resulted in Ferrari being forced to run their cars in a lower power mode to avoid further failures which would result in grid penalties.

Under the leadership of new team principal Fred Vasseur, Ferrari have reworked on the engines so that they don’t have to run at a lower-power mode anymore, giving them a 0.2 second advantage, however, Charles Leclerc is not overly confident if the changes have led to an improvement.

The Monegasque driver remarked on the fact that reducing drag could have a negative effect on cornering despite boosting their straight line speed. He said “It changed other characteristics, all in line with what we expected, but we still need to find the right set-up for these characteristics.” Fred Vasseur has already made significant changes in the Ferrari set-up, most notably, moving former head of strategy Inaki Rueda to a factory-based role and promoting one of his former lieutenants, Ravin Jain, to replace him.

“Fred arrived with very clear ideas and understands a team that’s very big,” Leclerc said. “Within a few days he understood what had to be done and he did it. It’s positive. His job is to put people in the right positions, and he’s excellent at it. Amazing.”

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