Max Verstappen makes his feelings known ahead of the F1 Saudi Arabian GP

Max Verstappen has a surprisingly positive outlook for the F1 Saudi Arabian GP as the driver comes off a disappointing race in Bahrain. The race in Bahrain was arguably the one where everything that could go wrong went wrong. It started with a poor start where Verstappen lost positions, something that doesn't happen often.

This was then followed by the driver having a bad pit stop that cost him positions and left him stuck behind Esteban Ocon in his Haas. To make things worse, the hard tires that Red Bull had saved for the race turned out to be the ones that were least suited for the conditions. This meant that Max Verstappen was jumped by Kimi Antonelli on the track.

Max Verstappen would then have a second stop, which would end up being even slower and hence compromising his race further. When you add it all up, it was an underwhelming race, where the driver could only finish P6. As a result, Verstappen dropped to third in the championship, his worst position in the standings since 2022.

Next up is the F1 Saudi Arabian GP, and Max Verstappen was surprisingly optimistic about the race and talked about emulating how the team performed in Japan. He said,

"Bahrain was quite a difficult weekend for us and didn't really go our way at all. We had some issues that set us back and we still have a lot of work to do on the car to get us where we need to be. However, last year Jeddah was a good track for us and it is a proper high speed semi street circuit which is fun to drive."

He added,

"Typically, there is less tyre degradation at this circuit, so it naturally should be a better race for us. We have a final push with this being the third race and final weekend of the triple header so hopefully we can find more pace and bring out a performance similar to Japan."

Max Verstappen's teammate looks ahead to the race weekend in Jeddah

The race in Bahrain also saw Yuki Tsunoda score a point for Red Bull, opening his account for the team in the process. Tsunoda was a few tenths behind Max Verstappen in general during the race weekend in Bahrain, but his deficit is still much smaller than what his predecessors had.

The Japanese driver was also looking ahead to his 3rd race with the Red Bull team, as he said,

"I was very pleased to get my first points as an Oracle Red Bull Racing driver in Bahrain. I'm still getting to grips with the car and we managed to overcome some difficult practice sessions to recover well and get some good pace and performance from the car. Obviously I want to do better and I will be demanding more of myself in the coming weeks, as I settle into the Team."

He added,

"As a Team we want to be better too and be competing a lot higher up the grid, it's a group effort to do that. I get so much more input and choice when it comes to set-up and I am learning every day with my engineers. My aim for Saudi is to secure a good qualifying result, it's another very different circuit and has its own challenges with tight walls and a tricky surface. We'll look to get the car in a good window and I'll do my best to deliver a good result for the Team."

Max Verstappen would be hoping for a better weekend in Jeddah, as the smoother surface could work for the Red Bull car.