Max Verstappen is not buying the Mercedes team’s pessimism following pre-season testing.
Mercedes will place “dead last” with their “awful car” in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, according to Max Verstappen.
After two pre-season testing in Barcelona and Bahrain, both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell downplayed Mercedes’ prospects of contending at the front of the F1 field, citing a number of concerns that the team has to address.
Hamilton declared flatly that Mercedes will be out of contention for race triumphs early on and that taming the W13, which seemed to be particularly affected by the porpoising problem, will require many races.
Verstappen: Mercedes will be dead last!
When questioned about Hamilton, Russell, and Mercedes’ statements before and after testing, Verstappen poked fun at his opponents.
“I think they will be dead last, according to their comments. I think they have an awful car, and they have already since 2017 in pre-season testing,” Verstappen told media in Bahrain on Friday.
“No, we’ll find out [soon]. I don’t know, but they – for sure – will be competitive.”
Verstappen’s remarks follow on from Carlos Sainz laughing off Russell’s recent suggestion that Ferrari are the favourites for the new season, describing it as “typical Mercedes” and “typical George”.
Verstappen was intent to repeating his 2021 triumph
Verstappen is focused on building on his and Red Bull’s achievements in 2021 as Formula One enters a new era.
Red Bull is aiming for their first Constructors’ title since 2013, while Verstappen is defending his Drivers’ championship.
“If you look at last season, even during that season, I think we could have had more wins and more pole positions even, but you need a really competitive car to be able to do that,” he commented.
“It’s gonna be really difficult to do something like that again, but, of course, you always try and do better, so I hope if we have a very competitive car again that we can reach something similar.”
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F1, F1 2022, Formula 1, Grand Prix, Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Sergio Perez, Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton
