We're finally back on track, and from today we're even more serious. Red Bull's dominance during testing was not reflected perfectly during this first day of testing. The RB20 didn't do as well as expected, but what is certain is that in terms of race pace, Red Bull is still the car to beat. Below are the words of Verstappen after the conclusion of FP2 of the Bahrain GP, where the Mercedes achieved a one-two capable of raising some doubts for their rivals.
So-so start for Max's RB20
Probably neither Red Bull nor Max Verstappen they expected such a complex start in the first weekend of the year. The winged bull's coaches are used to Friday - in this case Thursday - being below expectations, and tomorrow we will know if, as usual, the Milton Keynes team will be able to find the right solution.
It appears the uninspiring times stem largely from annoyances by the team's lead driver. During FP1 Max complained about gearbox problems when downshifting, while during FP2 he argued with the visor of his helmet because it was causing air to reach his face. In general, the balance of the car was not ideal. The result of two troubled sessions to say the least is a sixth place, both in FP1 and FP2. The race pace simulation done in the second half of FP2 testifies to what is already known: the RB20 is the group's reference, even if not what was expected.
Verstappen's words after FP2 of the Bahrain GP
This is what Max expressed himself at the end of FP2: “We didn't do badly, we should all be close. Probably someone else is already using more powerful mappings in terms of speed, but we focus on ourselves. Today We ran into some balancing issues front and rear, but nothing to worry about, it's just a matter of finding the right window, especially with such rough asphalt. When you find the ideal window, you start to buy a lot of time, so we'll try to find it for tomorrow“. Max then continued: “I'm not worried about the gap to the leaders, but we will all be close in qualifying, it will be fun. On the long run I was happy, but there are still a couple of things we can improve".
