Max Verstappen expecting ‘completely different’ Red Bull for start of season after testing

The Dutchman is preparing to defend his world championship title as he renews his rivalry with Lewis Hamilton

Max Verstappen says he was happy with Red Bull’s performance at the first pre-season testing session in Barcelona but believes his car will be “completely different” by the time Formula One heads to Bahrain next week.

Verstappen will begin his title defence at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix on 20 March but before that his Red Bull car will return to the track in Sakhir for the official pre-season test.

Amid the biggest overhaul in rules and regulations in several years, teams are fine-tuning their cars after hitting the track for the first time following weeks in the factories.

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has revealed they are not the only team to be having issues with car weight, while Mercedes have paid particular attention to the “interesting” sidepods on the RB18.

Verstappen has take a positive look at testing so far, however, but says there will be further improvements made to the car between now and the opening race of the season.

“What was positive is the car was running smooth, I was happy with the balance - but Bahrain is going to be completely different,” Verstappen said after the first on-track test.

“Heading into race one, the car will be completely different as well. So for me, I just focussed on doing a lot of laps and try to really nail down every single aspect of the car.”

Advisor Marko says Red Bull are not the only team to be having issues ahead of Bahrain. “The only problem we have is weight, but all teams have that,” Marko told Motorsport-Magazin.com.

“Thank God the minimum weight has already been raised, but there is still a lot of work to do before the first race. Let’s see if there isn’t another increase. All but one of the teams are struggling with the weight problem.”