Formula 1: Verstappen: “Hopefully not a second slower”

July 30, 2020

14 1 minute read

– 30.07.2020

“Hopefully not a second slower”

Max Verstappen goes into the UK GP with mixed feelings. But the Dutchman is by no means frustrated.

VMany fans and Max Verstappen himself hoped before the season that there would be a mega duel between Lewis Hamilton and Verstappen for the world title in 2020. But Mercedes dominates more than ever, so far, Verstappen has had no chance.

Mercedes is again a favorite, especially at the Great Britain GP. The course in Silverstone with the frequent high-speed turns should be the black arrow. “They are definitely the dominating team,” admits Max Verstappen. “But that can be two tenths or a second. I hope it’s not a second. ”

Red Bull had problems with the car’s driveability in the first three races. Both drivers turned several times, especially during training. Why is that? Verstappen explains: “It is hard to drive to the limit with every car. The problem is when the car reacts unpredictably. But in Hungary, I was very satisfied with the driving behavior of the car in the race. ”

Red Bull

Max Verstappen is not frustrated

The big gap to Mercedes is worrying. Not much can be done to the cars in 2021. Isn’t that frustrating? Verstappen says no: “I come to the race weekends and try to get the best out of it. Of course I would like to go for victories every weekend. But that’s not the case at the moment. We have to learn from it and get better. But Mercedes also works hard. If we find something next year that takes us forward, that would be great. But I’m not sitting here and I’m frustrated. But yes: I want to win races. “

For teammate Alex Albon it is even more difficult: he is clearly slower than Verstappen. But he does not want to leave the criticism: “In the first weekend I fought for victory, in the second and third I finished fourth and fifth. So I don’t think that’s very bad. Of course there are still a few problems in qualifying and in race pace and there is still a bit more time in it. But overall I’m happy, ”said Albon.

In Silverstone he gets a new racing engineer with Simon Rennie (more about that HERE). “There was no problem with my old racing engineer,” says Albon. “But the car is difficult to drive and the team thought we needed someone with a lot of experience. And Simon has this experience. ”