Max Verstappen warns rivals 'nobody is full beans' at the moment

Max Verstappen warned rivals that his team had not shown their full hands despite being the fastest driver of the day. The Red Bull champion believes none of the teams have run their cars in qualifying trims, therefore he warned his rivals that there was more to come and the timing was irrelevant.

Downplaying the performance on the final day of the test, the Red Bull driver said:

“Nobody is [giving it] full beans in qualifying-spec at the moment. Of course [the car is] better in low fuel and actually on the high fuel the car… doesn’t really do a lot, but it’s the same for everyone. So we can’t read too much into the timing screens.”

According to the reigning champions, varying fuel loads are a variable to consider before taking the testing time-sheets seriously. The Red Bull driver, however, hinted that just like other teams, they have not shown their full hand despite their performance on the final day of testing.

Describing his own test program on the final day of the test, Max Verstappen said:

“It was just a general progression of the day and we were just trying a few different tyres. But I think the main focus was about the tyres, [which] we’re going to use next week. But the car was feeling alright, and we went through our programme which we planned to do, and that’s always positive.”

The Dutchman revealed that the prime focus was understanding different tire compounds for the next two race weekends. The new world champion gave positive feedback about his car and was satisfied with its overall performance.

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Max Verstappen confirms new updates will be used in season opener in Bahrain

Revealing that their car was faster on the final day, Max Verstappen suggested that the new floor and sidepods on the car have worked well. Compared to Barcelona, the Dutchman believes Bahrain has different track conditions which demand a better understanding of the car. The Dutch champions confirmed they did make the RB18 quicker with the new updates that arrived on Friday and will be used again in the season opener.

Explaining Red Bull's performance in Bahrain, the Dutchman said:

“You know, compared to Barcelona I think more of it is just the track – the rough surface, warmer conditions, and the layout of the track makes it a completely different feeling compared to Barcelona..I think we learned a lot more about the cars, so we made the car faster, and I think that’s what you want... I think with the new parts, which arrived today, they also worked well, which you always hope for. They worked, so then hopefully we’ll keep them on [for the opening race].”

The Dutch driver was fastest by half a second on the final day of the test while his team-mate Sergio Perez was the quickest in the morning session. Overall, there was a shift in their performance on the final day and they were able to oust rivals Ferrari, who were consistent through both tests.