Verstappen cautious on Red Bull pace ahead of F1 season opener
Max Verstappen admitted Thursday that Red Bull are “not the quickest at the moment” ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix but warned that things could change over the course of the year.
The Dutchman secured his fourth straight world title in November and is now aiming to match Michael Schumacher’s record of five consecutive championships.
However, McLaren and its drivers, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, are expected to be even stronger this season, with Verstappen failing to top the timesheets during winter testing in Bahrain.
Red Bull have spent the past two weeks fine-tuning their setup, but Verstappen remains uncertain about where they stand compared to their rivals.
“I don’t know. I guess we’ll find out more this weekend and after,” he said. “Testing is not many days, so we found a few areas we can work on and that’s what we’ll continue to do.”
While Red Bull made improvements over the winter, Verstappen acknowledged that their true pace remains unclear.
“I know that we are not the quickest at the moment, but again, it’s a very long season,” he said. “If you would have asked that question here last year, and then at the end of the season, again, you know, it looked completely different.”
Verstappen dominated the early part of the 2024 season with seven wins in the first 10 races before a mid-season slump gave his rivals hope. Despite being on the verge of making history, he insists he is not focused on defending his title just yet.
“I don’t think about it. There’s no reason to think about that yet,” he said. “It’s more relaxing to just go into it, trust the people around you, and go from there.”
(Source: AFP)
