There is no denying that Ferrari had an extremely positive pre-season testing, both in Barcelona and Bahrain, as Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc frequently managed to post commendable number of laps, and even lap times, over each of the sessions. Hence, following such a positivity-induced outing, there have been speculations that the Reds could finally take their fight to the title favorites, Red Bull and Mercedes.

In fact, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell recently opined that Mercedes aren’t where they wanted to be in terms of performance. Furthermore, the Mercedes pair also reckoned Ferrari could be well ahead of them in Bahrain over the opening race weekend.

However, all Max Verstappen could do is laugh at such claims. The Dutchman pointed out Mercedes’ sandbagging history and insisted the fans not to believe in the words of Hamilton or Russell.

“I understand that. It has always been that way. If someone looks good or a team that everyone thinks is good for the day will come, then it is ‘oh no, but we are not the favourite’,” Max said according to Motorsport.

Max Verstappen predicts what will happen with Mercedes next week

The Flying Dutchman opened up about how Mercedes would react if they end up being the fastest of all at the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend.

“If it goes well a week later, then it is: ‘oh no, but we turned it around so well in a week. Really not normal, unbelievable work. Thanks to all the people in the factory’,” Verstappen said.

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Moreover, Verstappen isn’t keen on taking Hamilton’s words seriously, who recently mentioned that Mercedes “would not be in a position to fight for victories.” The Red Bull driver added, “These concerns were also there last year, but in the end, they were still very strong.”

Similar to this year, Mercedes had a struggle-induced pre-season test in 2021 as well. They were visibly well far off from Red Bull in terms of pace. At that point, it almost looked like Mercedes wouldn’t be able to close down such a humongous gap to Red Bull with barely any time in hand. However, in the end, Hamilton went on to win the opening race in Bahrain.

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So, will the 2022 season start off on a similar note for the Brackley outfit? Will either Hamilton or Russell lead the way in the desert under the lights this weekend? We’ll soon find out.