Max Verstappen believes he'll be facing a very different challenge this week in Saudi Arabia, where extending his and Red Bull's winning form won't be "an easy task".
Red Bull was in a league of its own in Bahrain where Verstappen trounced his rivals, including teammate Sergio Perez, in the first race of the 2023 season in dominant fashion.
The Dutchman's performance at Sakhir was so strong that many pundits – and Mercedes' George Russell – stated immediately after the race that the title battle was as good as signed and sealed for Red Bull.
But teams move on this week to a very different circuit – among the fastest on the F1 calendar – whose blend of fast-flowing corners and open throttle sections, not to mention a much less tyre degrading track surface, may curtail Red Bull's significant edge as seen in Bahrain and bring its Ferrari and Aston Martin rivals into play.
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"After a great start in Bahrain I don’t expect it to be an easy task in Jeddah, it is a completely different circuit and needs the car to be quick," said Verstappen.
"Nevertheless, with the high-speed corners, I do believe we can have a strong car around this track.
"The track changes that have been made are mainly for visibility, so hopefully it has improved things a bit for us drivers, as it was definitely dangerous in some areas.
"It’s a really cool street circuit, with quite a lot of grip, so I always enjoy going back there to race."
©RedBull
Perez insists Red Bull still has a healthy margin of progress at this early stage of the season, but the Mexican admits he's curious to see how everyone stacks up this time out on such a different track, one where he secured in 2022 his first career pole in F1.
"We have to try and keep the momentum going from Bahrain," Perez said. "There are definitely a lot of improvements we can still do, to try and make our car better.
"We gathered plenty of information from the first race and we have been doing a lot of work behind the scenes.
"It will be very interesting to see how everyone performs in Jeddah this week, it is a very different track to Bahrain.
"I am looking forward to going back to this circuit after getting pole in 2022. I was very unlucky last year with the timing of the safety car while leading the race so hopefully it can be my turn to win."
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