Max Verstappen has performed down his probabilities of successful the season-opening race for the third 12 months in a row after assessing Pink Bull’s efficiency in pre-season testing.
The reigning world champion, who received two of the ultimate 4 races of final season, named McLaren because the favourites to win in Australia subsequent week.
“There’s work to do,” Verstappen advised Viaplay, with whom he has a content material deal. “Wanting on the lap occasions, I believe McLaren would be the favorite.”
Nevertheless he expects Pink Bull to make swift progress with their new RB21 chassis. “Issues didn’t run utterly easily on our finish, however we’ve some concepts on find out how to enhance,” he mentioned.
“I additionally spent plenty of time within the simulator, even yesterday with the crew. I don’t assume we’ll be within the battle for the win in Melbourne, however hopefully we are able to implement some enhancements over the subsequent few races.”
He echoed technical director Pierre Wache’s view that the crew hadn’t made as a lot progress as they anticipated to in testing.
“It’s by no means adequate, in fact, however possibly we anticipated a bit extra from Bahrain. After testing, you will have time to analyse the info and draw conclusions. I believe issues might be optimised additional in Melbourne, however as I mentioned, there are nonetheless issues we have to enhance.”
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One important weak spot of Pink Bull’s automotive final 12 months was its efficiency over bumpy surfaces, a trait which the short-term circuit in Albert Park will put to the check subsequent week. Verstappen mentioned the crew nonetheless wants to enhance on this space.
“When it comes to stability, the automotive feels extra ‘collectively’ from turn-in to mid-corner,” he defined. “However we’re nonetheless combating kerbs and bumps, which isn’t our strongest level. I hold emphasising that.”
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