Ferrari potentially ended the eight-year dominance of Mercedes in F1 as Charles Leclerc grabbed pole position ahead of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz in Bahrain. And as anticipated, the defending champion had a shade of fear on his face citing Scuderia’s frightening blistering pace.

However, on the other hand, the Dutchman also had a bit of a chuckle looking at his rival team, Mercedes, lurking at the bottom of the top 10. Lewis Hamilton, the winner of last year’s Bahrain Grand Prix, only managed P5 while his new teammate, George Russell was further down in P9.

An absolute disappointment for the Brackley outfit! However, their poor run of form seemed to have given Verstappen a massive sigh of relief. Why you might ask? Well, until the start of the Bahrain GP weekend, the Red Bull driver had persistently echoed several other drivers and team principals that Mercedes were sandbagging their pace.

The claim looked reasonable enough considering Mercedes’ vast history of hiding their pace until the opening race weekend. Similarly, coming into the Bahrain GP, Verstappen would have been prepping up for a potential showdown against Hamilton. But, turns out, that wasn’t needed at all.

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Max Verstappen feels ‘bad’ for Mercedes

During the post-qualifying interview, Max Verstappen was asked whether he felt disappointed about Mercedes’ underwhelming pace. “You must be disappointed. The Mercedes seems to be a bit off the pace,” the interviewer questioned Verstappen.

The Dutchman then hilariously replied with a rather sarcastic smile on his face. “Very, very,” the 2021 world champion said.

Of course, this is only the low-fuel pace and lots to play for on Sunday with a much heavier fuel load and potentially rapid tire degradation. Red Bull are looking more dominant with respect to the race pace. However, Verstappen will need his teammate Sergio Perez‘s service in order to steal the race victory from Leclerc and Sainz on Sunday.

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The Mexican, though, has looked a bit edgy with the RB18 so far and would almost look like a surprise if he takes his fight to the Ferrari pair. Hence, with a rather uncertain race on cards, can Verstappen continue his winning spree from last year’s Abu Dhabi GP?