Polesitter Verstappen appeared unimpeachable on the Sakhir circuit as he pulled out of DRS vary of the chasing Ferrari of Charles Leclerc by the top of the opening lap.
Regardless of his 2022 chief championship rival beginning with brisker tyres, Verstappen then stretched his comfortable Pirellis a lap longer than Leclerc and managed a rear axle locking challenge when downshifting.
As soon as Leclerc retired with a Ferrari engine failure on lap 39, Verstappen could cruise to an 11.9s victory over team-mate Sergio Perez, whereas podium finisher Fernando Alonso was an additional 26.6s adrift.
With Mercedes driver George Russell ‘betting’ that Purple Bull would each single race in 2023, Verstappen has rebuffed options of a whitewash and as a substitute predicts a much more hotly contested spherical awaits in Saudi Arabia on 19 March.
The 2-time champion stated: “Saudi is sort of a unique monitor to this one. You’ve gotten much more like straights, quick corners, and loads much less degradation.
“And I believe right here [in Bahrain] we have been notably good on the deg. So, I do anticipate by way of race tempo, that everybody is nearer in Jeddah.”
The RB19 excelled in Bahrain partly resulting from its superior acceleration out of low- and medium-speed corners, whereas Purple Bull fared much better than Ferrari when it got here to managing tyres on the notably abrasive asphalt.
Pole sitter Max Verstappen, Purple Bull Racing
Picture by: Purple Bull Content material Pool
However the extra flowing Jeddah avenue monitor and its much less course floor ought to in principle favour the highest pace benefit loved by the SF-23, an element that enabled Verstappen to win on the venue in 2022 when the automobile traits have been seemingly reversed.
Verstappen added: “Jeddah goes to be fairly totally different once more.
“Our automobile appears fairly robust in excessive pace, however I believe Ferrari is sort of fast on the straight, which in Jeddah, in fact, could be very good to have.
“Time will inform. It is actually onerous to know. “We have solely actually pushed these automobiles right here in Bahrain, so we simply have to attend and see.
“We’ll, in fact, try to get there in one of the best form attainable after which we’ll discover out all through observe [in Saudi] the place we’re precisely.”
