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Max Verstappen doubts that Red Bull will be able to catch up to rivals Mercedes and Ferrari in the second half of the season. So far in 2017, Red Bull have failed to match expectations, as many expected that energy drink team to be the closest challenger to Mercedes amid the introduction of new regulations.
Instead, the team has been playing catch up with Mercedes and has seen Ferrari leap ahead. Verstappen himself has endured a difficult year, with reliability problems and first lap incidents overshadowing his season. Red Bull's car has drastically improved since Australia but Verstappen doesn't think the car will get much better this year.
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"For us, on tracks with not too many straights I think we are reasonably close, so I think around three-tenths down, more or less," says Verstappen. "But then of course when you get a few straights in the track I think we're a bit further away.
"I don't know what to expect for the upcoming races but of course it will be quite tough for us to really compete against them. I expect in Spa Mercedes will be again very strong because in general their power unit is still the best in the whole field, but it's very close.
"We'll keep developing, but the other teams do [as well]; we have to make sure that we do it a little faster and of course better," he added. "I think from the engine side there is not much coming compared to the other teams where there is still development on both sides. So we have to make sure our car is definitely going in the right direction."
Fergal Walsh
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
C. Sainz jr
980 members have this team as their favourite
Replies (1)
Login to replyf1fan0101
Posts: 1,804
Can't see it either, too far behind