Laurent Mekies (Red Bull Racing) after finishing 1st & 2nd: “Battle between 8 cars”

Red Bull Racing performed exceptionally well in the first two practice sessions ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia – even though their rivals at Mercedes had brought a major upgrade package with them. Can Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar carry their strong performance from Friday’s practice sessions through to qualifying and the race?

Focus on long runs

Red Bull Racing Team Principal Laurent Mekies: “It was a good day; we worked through our programme and completed very long runs, and that’s exactly what our priority is. Tyre wear is extremely high this weekend. We all have to deal with that, as it’s likely to be one of the decisive factors on Sunday. That’s what we spent most of our time on today.” The tarmac at the Sepang circuit is particularly rough. Add to that the heat. All of this causes the tyres to degrade extremely quickly. It’s likely to be a multi-stop race.

Red Bull Racing looked quite promising in both practice sessions. In FP1, Max Verstappen was fastest, with Isack Hadjar third. In FP2, Hadjar finished second and Verstappen fourth.

Mekies: The trend is positive

Mekies is tempering expectations a little on Sky: “First of all, it’s only Friday, but yes, the trend is positive. There’s nothing really new on the car this weekend, but you can certainly say that an enormous amount of work is being done behind the scenes in Milton Keynes. They know how to pull it off, so we’re getting a little bit closer to the target. We’ve struggled on tracks like this in the past, both in medium-speed and fast corners. Today we seem to be a bit closer. On a track like this, however, it will really come down to race pace rather than qualifying.”

Max Verstappen is the most recent winner at Sepang. In 2017, he secured the second victory of his then-fledgling career (he was only 20) at the circuit in Malaysia. He felt right at home at the Sepang International Circuit. For Isack Hadjar, the circuit is new. Mekies: “It’s a brilliant circuit. It features every conceivable variety of corner, and we’re all facing a major challenge: the cars, the power units in the extreme temperatures, the tyres and, of course, the drivers. So I think that makes for a very special combination.”

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And who will come out on top in the end? Mekies: “You’ll find all the usual suspects. Ferrari are there, Mercedes are there, McLaren are there. So there’ll be a battle between eight cars tomorrow and probably on Sunday as well.” McLaren had problems in the first practice session but then recovered. Mercedes and Ferrari were both close to Red Bull Racing in both sessions.