Verstappen is not worried by Imola upgrades: 'We have a decent advantage'
Max Verstappen is not worried about the updates competing Formula 1 teams will bring to the next race in Imola. The championship leader stresses that Red Bull Racing are also working hard on improvements for the RB19.
In Imola, many updates are expected from the various F1 teams. Verstappen is by no means awake to that prospect, as Red Bull is not standing still either. Moreover, the Austrian racing stable currently enjoys a big lead over the rest, so it remains to be seen to what extent competing teams will be able to bridge the gap.
Verstappen sees big advantage for Red Bull
"I think we have a decent advantage, especially in the race. I think over one lap in some tracks, definitely some cars will be close or in front, like you could see in Baku. But yeah, that race pace advantage I think is quite big at the moment," Verstappen stated during the post-Miami Grand Prix press conference.
The fact that other teams will start coming out with update packages from the Emilia-Romagna GP does not necessarily mean that Red Bull will suddenly be knocked off the throne. "It's not like the others are bringing new bits and we're just standing still right. So hopefully, we can just keep it going like we're doing now," the two-time world champion concluded.
Verstappen currently leads the championship, 14 points ahead of teammate Sergio Perez. The Dutchman moved ahead in the standings after impressively taking the Miami GP victory. It seemed a tall order from ninth on the grid, but no one was up to the dizzying pace Verstappen showed from the very first free practice session on Friday.
I am foremost a F1 fan, love the racing, the development of the cars, the frenzie and good and bad decisions that create the stories that are worth to be made into a movie. Most agree that Hamilton, Verstappen, Sainz, LeClerc, Alonso, Russell and maybe a few more have even more exceptional racing skills than the merely “normal exceptional skills” of all F1 drivers.
Hamilton, Verstappen, Alonso seem to have a virtue that make them more likely to be GOAT material; they are somehow able to stay more consistent than others while still racing super agressive. That makes them able to get the max out of a car. Give all F1 drivers the same speed of car, with their personal racing preferences in that car, and you would see all of them winning different circuits, probably. Whether a driver is winning a race is depending on the performance of the car AND the performance of the driver, so to say max is better than hamilton, or alonso, hard to tell. Being selected as first driver of one of the top teams having the fastest car does mean your skillset fits what they would expect, so i guess verstappen, leclerc, hamilton and alonso can be considered the best drivers on the grid. Alonso in my opinion maybe even the best, as he has made a difference in optimizing the car performance during development and is driving it with such joy, ease and sharpness, that i am wondering if he would actually be able to be even faster than Max in a red bull. But i am Dutch, so i resist the idea, i like to believe Max is the best haha
Perez is the Webber of this generation. To this I can't believe that RB never had a 1-2 finish in the driver standings from 2010-2013 and also in 2022. Especially in 2011 and 2013 when the RB cars were clear. How can Vettel win 13 races and 9 in a row and Webber had 0 wins in 2013. How can Webber finish 6th in 2012 when Vettel won it? Was Vettel that good or was Webber that bad.
Perez is that level of a driver and we saw that in 2022. Him and Webber are great examples of how you can underperform in a dominant cars.
Vettel loved the way the blown diffuser worked and adapted to car much better than Webber. Another Newey design that paid major dividends.
Such a refreshing difference to
"I just can't put into words man, when I get in that car something clicks inside me and I refuse to be beaten by anyone"
Max started p9 and still beat perez.
Max can start from any where and will be on the podium, even if he had ther 3rd of 4th best car, its natural driving talent, that makes him the greatest,
Lers all be honest here, Max without doubt is an exceptional driver whether you like him or not and now strapped into the fastest car on the grid ( by a country mile ) he's making full use of his sublime talent BUT without the fastest car he wouldn't be winning titles, in the second best car on the grid 2015-2021 he won races but no titles, but then again a lot of drivers have been in that position, if Max wasn't around it would be a Red Bull car winning the titles driven by Checo ir whoever is in it...
I think that no driver could put up a battle with mercedes in 2021 like Max did. 2022 and probably 2023 you are right.
You're right Berg,my point was that Max won races but he didn't win a championship until he got into the best/fastest car on the grid I'm sure you agree with that !! In 2021 the fastest car status ebbed and flowed between RB and Merc
The title of 2023, yes if Max wasn't around it will be Perez, but 2021 and 2022 for sure not. Without Max, Lewis would have gotten his 8th title and Charles his first.
It was Jolyon Palmer, who did a review of 2022 in which he explained how Ferrari had the better (read faster) car and how the team (reliability, bad strategic calls and driver) contributed heavely on not competiting for the title in the second half of the year in 2022.
This year it is clear that Red Bull have the best car (for sure on Sunday).
The only way any team will come close to RB is if RB's next update is to cut a massive hole through the floor,remove the power train and let the drivers Flintstone it.....probably still win though.
Red Bull really built a rocket ? and any driver can make wonders with it, nothing special. It's just the car
They had a Rocket last year and Perez came 3rd at the end of the season in the Rocket? ..
So Perez is the driver you compare everyone against ?
You said any driver can make wonders in it........3rd isn't a wonder......
And then there is Max that can make wonders in any car....
For you, you think RB is ahead because of Verstappen???? It's the other way round, Verstappen is ahead because of RB and that is a fact
3rd is a wonder and what was his best position before during his long career in F1? For RB it's not about Verstappen as they have won before in a more dominant fashion with Vettel
So “any” driver doesn’t mean all drivers now?? Interesting ?
Shame that didn't work out for Lewis in 2021.
So much for that theory.
Lol
What can Lewis do against FIA? If FIA decides who wins, lik3 in Verstappen's case, nothing everybody can do about it
and if so, yours beloved still wouldn't get his 8th WC since George is faster
That's why his championship was stolen by MaF1A. What can Lewis do about it, he's just a simple guy living his life
