Verstappen wants more improvements on his Red Bull in the face of Ferrari
After his victory at the Canadian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen is pushing for more improvements on his Red Bull. Despite his success, the pace of Carlos Sainz's Ferrari behind him does not fully inspire confidence.
Max Verstappen already has six victories this season, in just nine Grand Prix races. However, his Red Bull is far from being a dominant car and has a serious opponent, certainly faster even on certain circuits: the Ferrari.
During last weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen started on pole position and didn’t have to worry about Charles Leclerc, who started last due to engine penalties, or Sergio Pérez, who started 13th on the grid after crashing in Q2 the day before. However, the Dutch driver didn’t have as smooth a race as many had predicted, as Carlos Sainz and his Ferrari came to challenge him towards the end of the race.
It is not surprising to see a Ferrari competing for victory, however, Carlos Sainz seemed clearly behind the pace of the top three before this Canadian weekend.
“It was a tough race. I expected to have a bit more pace but we seemed to be lacking a bit compared to Carlos. Of course, he’s the only one I can compare myself to, with Ferrari, and it was a bit tougher than what I expected,” Verstappen said.
This element reinforces Max Verstappen’s idea of having more updates on his RB18. It fluctuates a bit, like last weekend it seemed good during the race, now it doesn’t seem as good anymore. But we still manage to win and I think that’s also a quality. We just need to work together with the whole team to try and find some improvements on the car.
Despite a possible slight deficit in pure performance compared to the Ferrari, the Red Bull and its very good top speed have not been beaten by the Ferrari for the win in a race since the Australian Grand Prix.
