Red Bull driver Max Verstappen said his Bahrain Grand Prix went “better than expected” after winning the race over teammate Sergio Perez.
Verstappen dominated the race with an unchallenged performance, and Perez made it a 1-2 for a strong Red Bull team which continues to lead the rest of the field as it did last season.
“The car was really nice to drive on every compound, we had a lot of pace and it was super enjoyable to drive,” Verstappen said.
“It went even better than expected.
“We stayed out of trouble and it is a great start to the year, it couldn’t have been better. It was a lot of fun.”
The Dutch driver said it is “very special to have these kinds of days because they don’t happen that often where it all goes perfect. You’re just one with the car and everything feels just great.”
Verstappen was challenged by Charles Leclerc and George Russell at the start, but managed to keep his lead.
“The start was good,” he said. “The first corner is a very tight hairpin so naturally, you want to defend the inside just to be safe.
“So that’s what we did and basically from there onwards, we just focused on our own race.”