"What damage can they do now?" - Red Bull rivals given a glimmer of hope after dominant 2023 F1 Bahrain GP performance

Red Bull's rivals have been handed a glimmer of hope despite the Austrian team's dominant display at the 2023 F1 Bahrain GP, according to former driver turned analyst Jolyon Palmer.

Red Bull appeared to pick up the baton right where they left it at the end of the 2022 season when the race weekend started in Sakhir. Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez lit up the timing charts throughout Saturday's qualifying sessions before locking the Bahrain front row out for the first time in the team's history.

Verstappen led the race from lights to flag while Perez managed to seal a one-two finish for the team from Milton-Keynes. Ferrari's reliability issues derailed Charles Leclerc's race and Carlos Sainz's late charge for a podium finish.

Mercedes driver George Russell believes the season is already a wrap and expects Christian Horner's side to win every weekend, while they were unable to keep pace even with Fernando Alonso's Aston Martin.

According to Palmer, the only spanner in the works for Red Bull could be a superstition that has been in play for the better part of the last decade in F1.

Not since Nico Rosberg in 2016 has a driver who won the season opener gone on to win the F1 Drivers' World Championship. During his post-race analysis on F1 TV, Jolyon Palmer pointed this out and said:

“They’ll be clinging to it that’s for sure. We’ll all be clinging to it in terms of racing action right now because of the way Red Bull are ahead. “But, development can make a big development. Red Bull have the least amount of development time, they’ve got an even smaller amount than they should have done because of the cost cap breach."

The former GP2 champion went on to add:

“Last year Ferrari were 1-2 here, it wasn’t quite a walk in the park as today, but by the end of the year they were quite a long way behind Red Bull. That shows the level of development that goes into the cars. And Ferrari, Mercedes and Aston Martin, they can all find a little bit and if Red Bull are standing still they can be caught. The question is, what damage can they do now?”

Max Verstappen has already become the first driver since Nico Rosberg in 2015-2016 to win a season finale and the following season's opening race consecutively, with his win in Bahrain. If anyone can break the curse of the season opener, it should be him.

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Red Bull RB19 well suited to both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, claims Dr Helmut Marko

Red Bull's new RB19 has been developed to suit both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, according to the team's advisor Dr. Helmut Marko.

The RB19 already has one race win to its name, but it still has a long way to go to fill the void left by its predecessor, the RB18, which won 17 out of 22 races in 2022.

Dr. Marko feels this time around, the factory back in Milton-Keynes has developed a car that can extract the best out of both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

In an interview with Sky Sports Germany, the veteran Austrian said:

"We had a car last year that 'Checo' (Sergio Perez) did very well with at the beginning, and after it was developed further, Max (Verstappen) had been happier and happier. The difference is Max loves a strong front end, really biting. Checo is a little different. He wants a more docile car. We seem to have found a solution here now that lets both drivers play out their qualities."

The Austrian team still has 22 races left to compete in and show just how well they have developed the RB19 as they look to defend their world championships.