As many fans expected, Red Bull dominated the Bahrain Grand Prix, with the team securing a front row lockout in qualifying before bringing home a one-two finish in the race.
The energy drink giants looked lightyears ahead of every other team on the grid, as Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez streaked away from their rivals while Ferrari, Aston Martin and Mercedes fought over the final podium place.
While it is bad enough for the entertainment value of Formula 1 that Red Bull are such strong favourites for both championships after only one race, it has been reported that it could have been even worse.
Max Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase was repeatedly heard asking the Dutchman to target a delta of 0.7 on the dash during the latter stages of the race, meaning that he wanted Verstappen to drive 0.7 seconds slower than he was currently lapping.
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AMuS has now reported that Red Bull believe that had they not told their drivers to cut their engine power and slow down, they could have driver a second per lap faster than they already were.
This would make the gap between Red Bull and Ferrari multiple seconds per lap, making the prospect of Red Bull lapping their rivals during a race somewhat realistic.
The RB19 appears to be nothing other than a positive evolution of last year’s car, with Adrian Newey clearly designing the best possible car under the new regulations that came into effect last year.
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Some fans of rival teams have suggested that Red Bull should be handicapped in some way for the benefit of the sport, with a 23 race season featuring 23 Red Bull wins not being something that anybody would want to watch.
It has been suggested that the other teams on the grid should be granted extra benefits such as testing time to help them catch up to the energy drink giants.
The race for second place looks extremely exciting however, with Mercedes, Aston Martin and Ferrari all looking able to battle each other over the course of 2023.