F1 pundit shares ominous prediction about Red Bull: "This dominance will probably run until the next regulations change in 2026"  

Sky Sports pundit Ted Kravitz has predicted that Red Bull's dominance might last till the 2026 season, when the new engine regulations will come in.

The Austrian team won both the driver's and constructors' championships last season after also securing the driver's title in 2021 courtesy of Max Verstappen. Red Bull will head into the 2023 season as the favourites after their dominant showing in pre-season testing in Bahrain last week.

On the Sky Sports podcast, Kravitz said that it would be tough for other teams to challenge the reigning champions in the current new regulations till 2026. He elaborated:

"They (F1) also changed the rules, of course, to improve the racing. They did do that to a large degree, but then in 2021, the championship is decided, old rules, on the last lap. In 2022, it's decided in Japan with four races still to go, so it didn't exactly close the field in terms of the championship.

"It meant that Red Bull got it right so much that they are now absolutely the favourites going in. Then this dominance will probably run until the next regulations change in 2026."

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"Red Bull are in a bit of a league of their own this weekend" - George Russell

Mercedes driver George Russell said that Verstappen and Co. could be 'in a league of their own' ahead of the season's first race this weekend in Bahrain.

Speaking to F1.com, Russell said that Mercedes might not be in contention to fight against the world champions in Bahrain:

“It was a good test; we learned a lot. We learned that obviously there’s a Red Bull looking really, really strong. But equally, we feel like we’ve got a lot of room that we can improve (on). (We’ve) probably brought a little bit more pace this weekend after the learnings of testing.

“It’s going to be, for sure, a challenging weekend if we want to try and fight for that victory. We probably knew that ahead of the season, starting off where we do. I think it’s definitely fair to say Red Bull are in a bit of a league of their own this weekend. I think it will probably be a nice fight for second place, probably between Ferrari and Aston Martin.”

It will be interesting to see where all the teams, especially the top three, stack up against each other, this weekend. The Bahrain GP is on Sunday (March 5).