Marko hopeful after Verstappen result: 'He's only going to get faster'

Until the last test session in Bahrain, Ferrari seemed to have the best car ahead of the first race weekend. Then Max Verstappen came along and he showed what Red Bull Racing had been working on this winter. With a new aerodynamics package, he went a whopping seven tenths faster than the fastest time up to that point. Reason enough for Helmut Marko to be positive about what's ahead.

Red Bull's advisor expects his team to fight for the win next week, but does not rule out the biggest rival in the process, he explained to OE24. "The most important thing is that we are the fastest again this year. But, I remember from last year that Mercedes was also behind in the test days. But we are primarily concerned with our car, and we are doing well there."

Mercedes came out with a completely new car at the beginning of the test week, which clearly showed that it was an improved version of the car they drove the shakedown with in Barcelona. Still, no fast times came from George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, so there are some concerns at the German team.

Those concerns are not present at Red Bull, where they expect Verstappen to successfully defend his world title this year. "You can count on that. With the title last year, he achieved his goal in life," Marko explained.

"But as everyone could hear on the radio at the finale, he wants to savor this feeling in the years to come. And you can believe me: Max will be even faster, he is in the prime of racing age," said the Austrian.