On Wednesday, Formula 1 teams begin a vital three days of pre-season testing in Bahrain, as Red Bull’s competitors seek to gain the first indication of whether they were able to cut the world champions’ edge from last year during the winter.
Each of the ten teams will put their respective new car through its paces on Wednesday, during three days of testing at the Bahrain International Circuit.
The lone pre-season test is especially vital for the primary would-be contenders to F1’s world champions, specifically Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren, and Aston Martin, as they attempt to rebound in 2024 after Red Bull and Max Verstappen achieved the most dominant season in the sport’s history last year.
Mercedes’ W15 and Ferrari’s SF-24 cars mark significant design changes from their respective dismal 2023 competitors, but Red Bull has developed what appeared to be a shockingly aggressive evolution of last year’s all-conquering car with the new RB20.
Verstappen, who won 19 of the 22 races last season and is looking for his fourth consecutive world championship this year, defined his 2024 challenger as “not a conservative car” while noting the continued convergence of everyone else towards Red Bull’s class-leading design over the previous two seasons.
Red Bull is expected to start the season as the team to beat, having won back-to-back world championships in the current era of regulations.
Bahrain testing for Red Bull begins amid an ongoing inquiry by team principal Christian Horner after a claim of inappropriate behavior made against him by a teammate. Horner has strongly denied the charges.
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