Martin Brundle names F1 title favourite despite pre-season concern

Former F1 driver Martin Brundle believes Max Verstappen will commence the upcoming F1 campaign as the favourite for the drivers' championship.

The 65-year-old's prediction comes despite noticing clear issues with the Red Bull car at pre-season testing.

The RB21 ran into a couple of gremlins during the three-day test from Bahrain, leading Red Bull to set the fewest laps of any team.

Verstappen enters the new season as the reigning champion and is targeting his fifth consecutive title - a feat that has been achieved just once before by Michael Schumacher.

Assessing Red Bull's performance at pre-season testing, Brundle told Sky Sports News: “It looked OK in Bahrain at the test.

“They were saying that they fixed a lot of last year's problems.

“But we also saw Max out on track, shaking his head once and spinning up the wheels.

“He was angry because the car went around on him. I didn't sense it was exactly glued to the racetrack.

“They were pretty tricky conditions in that preseason test.”

Verstappen title experience a key factor

Despite the concerns that cropped up at Red Bull in Bahrain, Verstappen is the favourite for the title this year, according to Brundle.

The Sky F1 commentator highlighted his clear number-one status in the Red Bull team as a key reason, as well as his title-winning experience compared to many of his rivals.

“For me, Max starts the season as the favourite, because he'll be the clear number one in that team, and Red Bull should have fixed it,” he said.

“He's so fast, he's so good, he knows how to win multiple world championships.

So does Lewis [but] his main rivals don't yet know how to win any F1 world championships in Charles [Leclerc], Lando [Norris], George [Russell], Oscar Piastri too.

“Max should start the season [as the favourite], and whoever wins this year's World Championship, will win a binding championship.”