F1 champion Damon Hill predicts shock driver to BEAT Max Verstappen at Bahrain Grand Prix

Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Abu Dhabi, 2023 — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

F1 champion predicts shock driver to BEAT Verstappen at Bahrain Grand Prix

Damon Hill puts faith in driver to take his first victory in two years

Shay Rogers

Wednesday 28 February 2024 12:57 Updated: 16:45

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Damon Hill has touted a surprise driver to win the first race of the 2024 Formula 1 season in Bahrain after two years of Red Bull dominance.

Max Verstappen won 19 of the 22 grands prix on offer last year, as Red Bull wound up putting together one of the most historic seasons in the sport’s history.

Instead of choosing the easy option and developing their old car, they made some radical design choices that may help them to retain their significant advantage in 2024.

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But the chasing pack are closing in on them all the time and as is the case at the start of any season – reliability could be a key factor on raceday.

Damon Hill has picked a surprise winner for the inaugural race of the 2024 season

Lewis Hamilton last won a grand prix at Qatar in 2021

Max Verstappen retired from the first F1 race of the season in 2022

Hill: A totally stunned world is going to see

F1 champion Damon Hill has picked a driver without a victory in over two years to reign supreme this weekend – one that would be of much pleasure to the British fanbase.

“In reverse order, Fernando Alonso and then the next is going to be Checo Perez,” he told F1 Oversteer.

“And then the winner is going to be, a totally stunned world is going to see…Lewis [Hamilton] is going to win it and that’s because both Red Bulls have sprung a leak and they’ve overheated or got some sort of technical problem they didn’t realise was going to happen.

“And that’s not wishful thinking, I just think we’re going to get a surprise result at least I hope!”

Mercedes showed some positive progress at pre-season testing, but their own calculations had the rest of the pack as much as one second behind Red Bull.

That would be a test for Hill’s theory, if he believes that despite a huge pace advantage, that Sergio Perez would be unable to overcome Lewis Hamilton in race trim.

Red Bull Max Verstappen Bahrain Grand Prix Damon Hill