Red Bull Advisor Confident of Max Verstappen’s F1 Qualifying Pace in RB18

The Bahrain pre-season testing is over and the season-opener is just around the corner. Max Verstappen set the fastest lap time on the final day of Bahrain testing. Further, the Red Bull advisor, Helmut Marko has revealed why those results were vital for the first race.

Red Bull was a strong contender last year to win the constructor title but barely lost it to Mercedes. However, the Milton Keynes base was ready for this year with the 2022 challenger RB18, which they have been working on for quite some time now.

Despite that, the car failed to impress in the pre-season testing at Barcelona and the unimpressive form continued till day 2 of the Bahrain testing. However, the Bulls finally found their pace on the final day with their new upgraded sidepods. First, Sergio Perez showcased some phenomenal driving with the RB18 and later Verstappen set the fastest lap of that day.

Recently, Helmut Marko revealed that the results of the last day at Bahrain pre-season were important. The strategy they used that day was similar to what they are planning to use for the qualification round of the Bahrain Grand Prix.

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“More important was the time Max set with the C3 tires. That is the tire that will be used during qualifying at the race weekend,” Marko shared about the Bahrain Day 3 testing results.

Red Bull doubtful about Mercedes’s poor pre-season performance

The last year’s constructor’s champions didn’t exhibit a brilliant form in both the pre-season testings, like their rivals at Red Bull. Mercedes even came up with a controversial sidepod design but they too didn’t help much to improve the poor performance. Meanwhile, Red Bull’s performance drastically improved after a minor upgrade; therefore, the Austrian team is now again the favorite to win the season-opener besides Ferrari.

The German F1 Team themself favored their rivals Ferrari and Red Bull to win the first race cause they are not ready yet. Meanwhile, Red Bull rejected these claims. And instead pointed out that the Silver Arrows always have bad testing sessions, then they win races.

Red Bull advisor said, “They always complain during the tests and then suddenly: ‘boom’. Last year they also had problems during the test and still won the first race.”

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The first race is just a few days away and Red Bull will return to Bahrain with their RB18. Fans should keep an eye on the nail-biting season opener. It would be fascinating to see whether Red Bull will win the Bahrain GP or not.