Verstappen only concerned with the RB18: ''I wasn't shocked''

Verstappen pays no attention to Mercedes

Mercedes came out of the hat on Thursday morning with a large update package that surprised many in the paddock. Especially the sidepods were interesting since there were hardly any. Verstappen states as one of the few that he was not surprised by Mercedes, since all teams come with updates according to him.

''I think the top teams in general have a launch car then a race car. I always expected them to come with something and that's what they did. It's their philosophy, I wasn't shocked. at the end of the day you can't control what they do,'' said the Dutchman in conversation with Ted Kravitz of Sky Sports.

Different approach in Bahrain

''I've said many times in the past, we have to focus on our car and make that quicker which is going well. For what I did in Barcelona was more about putting laps and understanding the car and reliability. Plus set-up work to get an understanding of the car which we did well. Here in Bahrain it's different again so we'll see what happens," concludes the Red Bull Racing driver.

Red Bull reportedly does come to the track on Friday with updates, as Adrian Newey announced on Thursday. Friday was also a particularly productive day for Red Bull, because, with 137 laps, Sergio Perez completed the most laps of anyone. A good start for Red Bull, which Max now hopes to continue.