Verstappen reveals Red Bull goals for 2024 testing
Verstappen reveals Red Bull goals for 2024 testing
GPFans Staff
Max Verstappen has revealed what he and his Red Bull team are looking to get out of this week's pre-season testing in Bahrain.
Verstappen clocked well over 100 laps on track on Wednesday, cruising to the fastest single lap of the day by more than a second as teams begin to fear the Red Bull machine once again.
Despite little being known about either team's run plans, the gap between Verstappen and second-fastest Lando Norris was eye-catching as the Dutchman was able to complete two race distances without any reliability maladies.
Verstappen has laid down the marker once again to his rivalsThe RB20 has already showcased it's reliability in testing completing two full-race distances.Can anyone stop Verstappen from winning the title?
Street circuits and slow bends are the main areas to work on for Red Bull
For the second day of testing, Verstappen handed the controls of the Red Bull to Sergio Perez, who completed a whole day of running on Thursday.
Verstappen, who won last year’s Bahrain Grand Prix, had driven the RB20 prior to arriving in Bahrain, conducting a shakedown at a wet Silverstone before the car’s official launch last Thursday.
Adrian Newey’s latest creation is strikingly different to its predecessor and features a Mercedes-style ‘cannon’ cooling system and a new sidepod design.
Red Bull will be looking to achieve something they failed to do in 2023 and complete a perfect season, winning 21 out of the 22 races. The one race where Red Bull struggled was the Singapore GP as a set-up issue, and a poorly timed safety car meant Verstappen could only finish fifth with Perez further back in eighth.
"In Bahrain, we have to learn to understand the car in order to be at the front right away," explained Verstappen to Speedweek. “We know exactly what we needed to improve for 2024.
"Compared to other track types, for example, we struggled on street circuits. Slow bends didn't suit the car, and we weren't good enough in terms of handling on bumps or kerbs either.
"But I'm curious and excited. It's always a marvellous thing to experience how a new racing car is created. The first important moment is always the seat test, then you can feel the fever rising."
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