Max Verstappen: “Positively surprised by Ferrari”

He was expected, his opponents a little less. Max Verstappen signed the first pole position of the 2023 season for the Bahrain Grand Prix. If the Dutchman's main announced rival was the impressive Fernando Alonso, it was ultimately a duel with Ferrari that the double reigning world champion experienced.

The two Scuderia drivers showed themselves during qualifying, which complicated the driver's task Red Bull. “I was positively surprised by [Ferrari], after all their difficulties during testing. It’s good, but normally our race pace is better”, believes Max Verstappen.

Verstappen reassured after “a rather difficult start to the weekend”

The Dutchman is above all reassured by the performance of his RB19 with this pole position acquired in front of his teammate, Sergio Pérez. “It was a pretty difficult start to the weekend. Today I couldn't find my rhythm, confided the world champion after Q3. Fortunately, in qualifying, we managed to put everything in place. I am very happy to be on pole, very happy for the whole team following on from last year. To have such a strong car with Checo [Pérez], it’s incredible. I'm looking forward to tomorrow. »

Asked about the very small gaps between each team for this first meeting of the season, Max Verstappen admits he is not surprised by the compactness of the 2023 grid. “Compared to last year, everyone knows a little better what they are doing with their car. Naturally, everyone starts off better by being more competitive. The changes should have slowed down the cars but we are still going faster. It’s a great thing to see and throughout the season we will see everyone progress and go faster and faster. »

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