Verstappen expects Mercedes to overtake McLaren as Red Bull's nearest F1 rival

Max Verstappen expects Mercedes will overhaul McLaren as Red Bull’s closest rival at this weekend’s Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Dutchman continued where he left off in pre-season testing, topping both practice sessions.

Verstappen was a tenth clear of Lando Norris during second practice, with reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton a further tenth back in third.

Even though McLaren was Red Bull’s nearest challenger during Friday practice, Verstappen still sees Mercedes as the main threat.

“I don’t think it is so,” Verstappen said when asked if McLaren is Red Bull’s closest rival in Bahrain. “I still expect Mercedes to be the strongest Mercedes-powered car.”

Reflecting on the day as a whole, Verstappen added: “Yeah it’s been a good day again. of course, with the heat, not easy to find a really good balance around the whole lap. I think it’s a positive day.

“Of course there are still things to look into what we can look better for tomorrow, but again, also tomorrow, I think it’s going to be even more windy so that will be even more difficult to drive. That’s the same for everyone, so we’ll see what happens.”

Sergio Perez’s first competitive outing in Red Bull colours at a grand prix weekend ended with him classifying tenth overall, 0.6s shy of his teammate.

Perez was happy with his performance on the longer runs but admits he has work to do ahead of qualifying on Saturday.

“It feels great to finally get into a race weekend and I’m pleased so far with how things are going. I’m settling in well and taking some steps forwards,” Perez said.

“If I were to summarize today, I’ve got some work to do on the short runs as over one lap I don’t quite feel the car is within me just yet and I still have to think about what the car is doing, but in the long runs I’m more comfortable and I think the pace is there so that’s positive.

“I think we have some work to do on the soft tyre as there is also room for improvement there, but the car is performing well, we have good pace and tomorrow it will be pretty close in qualifying so we need to make sure we get it right and have a good start to the season.”