An omen for another year of dominance? 'Verstappen had a wide grin'

After three days of testing, the real work begins in Bahrain this Thursday. On the day of free practice, the world is going to see whether Red Bull Racing's displayed strength during the test can indeed be representative of an entire season. Timo Glock, former F1 driver and currently an analyst for Sky in Germany, was, in any case, impressed with Verstappen and his team after the tests.

Of course, it was 'only' a test and Sunday is only the first Grand Prix. Yet last week, Red Bull's first impression was extremely positive, Glock stated. "It was of course frightening that Max Verstappen gets into that new car and is very happy from the first moment," he said. "Verstappen was very happy and had a big, wide grin on his face. The balance on the Red Bull was right. The car reacted the way he liked it. It was impressive that Red Bull did so well with the new concept."

Question marks surrounding Mercedes

So if the omens are not deceiving, Verstappen is the all-important candidate to become world champion. Yet the competition has certainly not been idle in the off-season. In Bahrain, Ferrari, in particular, looked good, especially on the fast laps.

Glock thinks Ferrari, as well as McLaren, have the best chances of beating Red Bull in 2024. The German opined that these teams' cars looked "solid". "The question goes what Mercedes can get out of the new package. They have entered the Red Bull road in terms of concept. Those are going to be Verstappen's main competitors."