Red Bull Racing is looking to defend its Formula 1 championship, having won both the driver’s and constructor’s titles in the 2022 season. Driver Max Verstappen claimed his second title and won a record 15 races, while Red Bull took home the constructor’s crown for the first time since 2013. With the RB19, the team is aiming to continue its winning streak in the upcoming season.
Team Principal Christian Horner commented on the performance of rivals Ferrari and Mercedes, saying, “Very difficult to say. I mean Ferrari look like they’re quick, Mercedes’ form [is] difficult to read at the moment. Are they holding something back? We’ll see this time next week; I think all will become clear.” Horner also noted that Aston Martin had made a “big step” forward and looked competitive with driver Fernando Alonso performing well.
Red Bull’s driver Sergio Perez provided positive feedback on the RB19’s performance during the team’s testing program in Bahrain. Horner was pleased to hear that the feedback was consistent with Verstappen’s, which he found encouraging for the development of the car.
The team opted to give each driver a full day in the car, only splitting Friday’s duties, which differs from some other teams. Horner explained, “I think our preference is: once a driver’s into a rhythm and their engineers are, rather than breaking it over the lunch hour, to continue that theme during the whole of the day. Of course, that’s different for every team… it’s more suited to the plans that we had at this particular test.”
