A flawless drive and masterful present of sangfroid from Max Verstappen ensured Red Bull loved a surprising begin to the brand new F1 season, choosing up the place they left off in 2023 and, briefly at least, eased the stress on Christian Horner.
But at the same time as they celebrated an ideal one-two, Horner’s place as staff chief and Red Bull’s as normal-setters was the main target of renewed hypothesis – due to feedback from Verstappen’s father Jos.
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A glance at three issues we discovered from Sunday’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix:
Horner disaster overshadows Verstappen dominance
Rarely can a staff have crushed their rivals as comprehensively because the champions did on Sunday — solely to be rocked by claims of an imminent implosion if their principal isn’t relieved of his duties.
According to Jos Verstappen, father of three-time champion Max, the staff will “explode” if Horner stays.
This follows the circulation of a batch of messages allegedly despatched by Horner to a feminine worker, launched by an nameless supply 24 hours after the Briton, 50, was cleared by an inner probe of allegations of misconduct.
“There is tension while he remains in position,” mentioned Verstappen senior, as quoted by a British newspaper. “The team is in danger of being torn apart. It can’t go on the way it is. It will explode”.
Verstappen’s fifty fifth profession win and eighth in consecutive races was dominant, however not sufficiently to persuade that Red Bull will once more be all-conquering.
The chasing pack, led this time by Carlos Sainz, confirmed the pace, if not the consistency, to shut the hole.
Verstappen himself mentioned he had seen this within the performances of his rivals even when Sunday’s end result on a excessive-degradation circuit suited Red Bull so emphatically.
During a demanding weekend for the staff, he noticeably declined to supply emphatic private assist for Horner.
“He has been an incredible team boss,” mentioned the three-time world champion. “From the performance side, you can’t question that so that’s what I am dealing with.
“We focus on that and that’s how we work together.”
For fairly how for much longer, if his father’s views maintain adequate weight with the father or mother firm’s share-holders, stays to be seen.
Ferrari enhance as Mercedes rue errors
Ferrari staff chief Fred Vasseur mentioned he was happy with his staff’s improved tempo and efficiency however recognised they’ve a niche to shut as they lead the chase to catch Red Bull.
Sainz, who provides up his seat at the top of the season to Lewis Hamilton, got here residence third, 25 seconds adrift of Verstappen, however lower than three behind Sergio Perez, whereas Charles Leclerc managed brake issues to come back residence fourth.
“Mixed feelings,” mentioned Vasseur. “We compressed the gap to Red Bull by 50 per cent compared to a year ago, but it isn’t enough. And again, we had too many issues.”
Like Ferrari, Mercedes have been upbeat if annoyed after cooling issues undid their hopes, having been quickest in Thursday follow.
“We faced similar problems,” mentioned George Russell, who completed fifth, two locations forward of Hamilton. “We made a mistake in our forecasts.”
McLaren and Aston Martin have been additionally unable to provide their greatest at the Bahrain monitor which is extensively seen as a‘one-off’.
Chaos at Alpine
The Enstone-backed Alpine staff slumped to the again of the grid with a poor present in qualifying and after a interval of upheaval seems to be underneath stress once more.
The resignations of technical director Matt Harman and aerodynamics boss Dirk de Beer in February got here earlier than Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly certified on the again row.
They went on to complete seventeenth and 18th respectively.
Former staff boss Otmar Szafnauer, who was dismissed final July, noticed on Saturday that “the stop watch doesn’t lie and it (the car) doesn’t look very competitive. It’s a hard game, F1. You have to do a lot of things right and if you get them wrong, it bites you.”
(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is printed from a syndicated information company feed – AFP)
