Red Bull ‘ready for the challenge’
TDT | Manama
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Max Verstappen says Red Bull are ready to “take the fight to Mercedes” after narrowly finishing as the runner-up in the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2021 on Sunday night at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC).
Verstappen was encouraged despite losing out on the season-opening victory. After topping the timesheet in all three Practice sessions and then landing pole position for the highly anticipated night race, the Dutchman was expected to capture the victory.
But it was Lewis Hamilton who took the chequered flag a mere 0.745 seconds ahead. Verstappen ran Hamilton close in a frantic finish. He drove confidently early on, however, lost the lead to the seven-time world champion midrace during the pit stops before he took advantage of better tyres to chase Hamilton down, only for his overtaking move late on to be adjudged unfair.
Following the race, Verstappen said: “We have definitely made good steps forward and it’s been a strong start to the championship but it’s of course a shame not to get the win when it is so close like that.
“We were having to manage a couple of issues throughout the race which I had to drive around so we will have to look into that but there are positives to take from today and the whole weekend.
“Mercedes did the undercut but we stuck to our strategy which was working fine, the problem is that with these cars, it’s so hard to pass and once you have that track position it’s pretty powerful.
As soon as I got close enough to Lewis I had one shot and I just went outside of the track at Turn 4 so I gave the position back, but by then my tyres weren’t in a good state anymore to put the pressure on.
“We have to look at the positives, we’re taking the fight to Mercedes and I think that’s great, it’s good to start the season this way and we managed to score some good points for the Team.
“We will analyse what we can do better as there are always things you can improve and it’s great to get Honda’s 200th podium this weekend.
Now it’s full focus on the next race.” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner added: “The fact that we’ve been so competitive this weekend is a good signal for the championship.
If we’re frustrated with second place, then that’s not a bad place to be and shows the determination within the Team. We’re certainly in the fight and ready to take on the season.”
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