Verstappen already fatalistic? The gap with McLaren is "huge"

Even before taking to the track in Bahrain this week, Max Verstappen had already shown some fear about the duel against the McLaren. If he was able to stand up to Lando Norris et Oscar piastri In Japan seven days earlier, the four-time world champion felt that returning to the tarmac at Sakhir, where his rivals had been very strong during pre-season testing, was not necessarily going to work in his favor.

A trend that the pilot Red Bull was able to observe during Friday's day. On the bench in favor of Ayumu Iwasa during FP1, Max Verstappen suffered a lot during his only hour of driving. Between brake problems and a lack of sensation with his RB21, the title holder was never really able to complete perfect laps to really measure up to the McLarens, decidedly on a " other planet " as subtly slipped Charles Leclerc.

Overall, Verstappen said they were too slow to hope to fight for victory again this weekend in Bahrain, highlighting a lack of pace on the long runs. It took a lap or two to really get into it, confided the person concerned when it came to sharing his feelings.

But the gap was still huge so I'm not entirely satisfied. The balance wasn't too bad but we were just out of the running, and there's a lot of work to do on the long runs too. We're just too slow on every lap and we're not enjoying the long runs. There was a bit of drift practice at the end too.. » Referring to his grip problems on one lap.

While he may be pessimistic, Max Verstappen should still be a real challenger this Saturday during qualifying (18 p.m.). After all, in Japan, he managed to beat them while the McLarens seemed untouchable since the start of the weekend. A repeat performance under the Bahrain floodlights this time?

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