F1 2024 winter testing: what to remember before the Bahrain GP

He does not force his talent and even less his machine. No show off from the world champion Max Verstappen, as well as within Red Bull Racing. During these three days of pre-season testing, it was “ business as usual » for the men of the team based in Milton Keynes. Even for Christian Horner, yet at the time of this internal investigation for “ inappropriate behavior » which poisons his life, that of the team, and embarrasses both the sporting authorities and the holder of commercial rights.

But, on the track, nothing betrays the slightest excitement. He emerges from the group as a form of quiet force which is certainly not the type to tranquilize the opposition. With his set of C3 tires which, on the Sakhir track, corresponds to the mid-range, he “settled” with a time of 1'30''755 which gave him 4th place in the general classification of the last day. But if he had only used a set of fresh, unused tires as was the case for this final “run” of testing, he would undoubtedly have easily been able to place himself at the top of the timesheet.

But that was not the objective. “ I think it was more important to do the long runs and understand the car better, so we focused on this program and, honestly, everything turned out quite positive, explains the incomparable Max. I