Verstappen declares Red Bull’s era ended, urging significant upgrades as McLaren takes the lead.
McLaren F1 is now better than Red Bull, according to Max Verstappen. The three-time world champion made the comment following the qualifications, where Lando Norris managed to outpace him to secure pole position.
Before the weekend, Red Bull’s F1 advisor, Dr. Helmut Marko, stated that the outcome of the Spanish GP would serve as a “benchmark” for the rest of the world championship.
“The circuit has almost every type of corner, so if a car is fast here, it’s also good for the world championship,” the Austrian had said.
This Saturday’s second place could thus be a “wake-up call” for Red Bull, and Verstappen is taking it seriously: “We are already very awake to what is happening. Yes, we need to improve.”
“We need to bring faster, better parts. I mean, we had a very dominant car last year, and I mean, that’s now totally over. We really need to try to take a step forward again.”
Red Bull only received minor updates in Spain, unlike some of its rivals, which has not escaped Verstappen’s concern: “It seems there are more updates around us than with us, yes.”
On Sky Deutschland, Helmut Marko noted that McLaren had the best pace among the top teams and that this has been the case since Friday: “After the third free practice session, we weren’t sure a front row start was possible.”
“It’s clear that McLaren has made incredible progress over the last race weekends and has a good car for all circuits and all types of tyres. Considering the long runs on Friday, McLaren is the big favourite.”
Having admitted that McLaren is better than Red Bull, “otherwise they wouldn’t be ahead,” Verstappen acknowledges that he hoped to dominate in Spain, on a representative track: “On this kind of circuit, of course, I hoped to be at the front. But the other teams are catching up.”
“We have already seen this in the last races, so it’s much more difficult. We have to do everything perfectly to be first. We just need to bring more performance to the car.”
However, the one who recently complained of sometimes sloppy execution is pleased that it has improved: “Clean. We haven’t had issues like what we’ve experienced in recent weeks.”
“But it took a bit of fine-tuning to make the car fast, I would say. But I don’t feel it’s always about adjustments. Sometimes, it seems we lack a bit of pace. So we have to try to be more competitive.”
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Verstappen Urges Red Bull for Major Updates Ahead. Verstappen Urges Red Bull for Major Updates Ahead
