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Verstappen Admits Red Bull Trails McLaren Mercedes

Verstappen Admits: Red Bull Trails McLaren, Mercedes

18/07/2024

Verstappen sees Red Bull lagging behind rivals as he eyes Hungarian GP for a turnaround.

Max Verstappen anticipates another clash with McLaren F1 and Mercedes this weekend. The Red Bull driver is pleased to be a contender for victory but hopes for more performance from his team in Hungary.

“I’m enjoying it, but I would like us to be able to win. We want to find more performance in the car, we hope this weekend will be better. Recently, Mercedes and McLaren have been very strong,” said Verstappen.

“They’ve had good weekends, they’ve been fast from the start and their cars are getting stronger. So we’re going to try to do something similar on our side from now on, and we’ll see if we can achieve it. We have to maximize what we have until the end of the season, we are focusing on our work and we will try to progress in this way.”

“I don’t know how the rest of the season will evolve, but at the same time, I don’t know what the other teams are going to do either. So we are focusing on ourselves. We are bringing quite a few things to the car and of course, I hope that it will allow us to gain some time per lap.”

The Dutchman is clear about one thing: Red Bull is no longer the reference on the grid. According to him, it will be necessary to study his team’s lag at the start of the weekend: “I think the question is how close we can be to the competition.”

“I think that in the last few races, we haven’t been the fastest car, so I don’t expect it to suddenly be different. Of course, we are going to bring improvements and I hope that will give us a good boost. But for now, I just want to try to see how it will work out this weekend.”

“I think we simply lack pure pace. And then, when you try to compensate for pure pace, you naturally have more tire wear, it is harder to find the right spot with the car. Overall pace would therefore be helpful.”

Recently, it has been said that Verstappen still had difficulties seeing after his Silverstone 2021 accident, but he assures that this is no longer the case: “It was just in 2021. The story published in the Red Bulletin is a bit incorrect. It happened at the time but it’s gone.”

“It’s not something I would advise people to have behind the wheel. We are racing drivers, we face all sorts of things. Here and there, there are always people who get a bit injured or something else. These things happen. But it has been treated, fortunately.”

Verstappen’s Hope for Red Bull Boost in Hungary Verstappen’s Hope for Red Bull Boost in Hungary

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