Has Verstappen learned from his mistake? He won't soon forget that lesson'

Red Bull Racing has got off to a great start to 2021. The Austrian team has struggled in recent years but was immediately competitive in Bahrain this season. Verstappen finally seems to have a car with which he can take on the Mercedes drivers, and the duel with Hamilton is particularly interesting.

Mercedes wins anyway

''This is the battle of the titans. Verstappen now has a car that is actually a bit faster than the Mercedes, but he still lost. Hamilton drove in a class of its own. Those are the duels that made the difference in the history of Formula 1. Senna against Prost was Senna against Prost only because they could drive against each other at eye level, in this case even in the same car'', Danner told Motorsport-magazin.com.

Despite Verstappen's better car, it was Hamilton who ran away with the win in Bahrain after all. ''It was a classic undercut and nothing else. They were hoping it would work. It was about track position before performance calculation. Theoretically, Verstappen should have easily overtaken Hamilton, but it didn't work because track position is more important.''

The race of Verstappen

A strategic victory for Mercedes, but Verstappen will have learned his lesson as well. He was able to overtake Hamilton but got out of the lane in the process. He regained his place, but could perhaps have done this in a better spot. The same could perhaps be said of his overtaking manoeuvre. Verstappen will learn from his mistake like no other, Danner judged.

''I do believe that he's capable of the World Cup. He's got the class for that. You have to give Max Verstappen one thing, in addition to all his talent and incredible vehicle control: he is learning very well and he won't forget the lesson he learned there in Bahrain anytime soon, because that was actually his race'', concludes the former Formula One driver.