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2022 FIA Formula One World Championship
2022 Bahrain Grand Prix
Bahrain International Circuit
Sakhir, Bahrain
Sunday, 20 March 2022
Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen will begin his title defence at the
Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday, March 20 when the 2022 Formula One World Championship season gets underway.
The 24-year-old won his maiden Championship title in 2021 after a nail-biting conclusion which went down to the final race as he finished ahead of Lewis Hamilton at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
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Verstappen has never won on the Bahrain International Circuit, although he achieved back-to-back second-placed finishes in 2021 and 2020.
The Dutchman will be hoping to go one better this year, but he has to contend with Hamilton, who won the race in each of the last three seasons and holds the overall record with five victories.
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Verstappen set the fastest lap on the final day of pre-season testing in Sakhir and warned his rivals there was more performance to come from his car.
"Nobody is (giving it) full beans in qualifying-spec at the moment," he said. "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."
The reigning world champion added that Red Bull wanted to collect as much data as possible on the 18-inch Pirelli tyres, which would be used for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
"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," he said.
"But yes, of course I think we learned a lot more about the cars, so we made the car faster, and I think that's what you want."
2021 Bahrain Grand Prix results
Winner: Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
Second Place: Max Verstappen - Red Bull Racing-Honda
Third Place: Valtteri Bottas - Mercedes
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