Verstappen sees competition changing: 'We are the stable factor'

F1 News

max verstappen after British grand prix silverstone 2023
9 July 2023 at 18:08

Max Verstappen was once again the constant factor on the podium. At no Grand Prix this season did the Dutchman not manage to finish among the first two. What does change regularly now is who accompanies him to the festivities. After the British Grand Prix in Silverstone, it was Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton.

Behind Red Bull Racing's car - at least with Verstappen behind the wheel - the balance of power is constantly changing. "It's very confusing, to be honest, because every single race weekend, it's someone else," responded Verstappen, asked about what's going on behind him. " I think it's because it's so close behind that if you get your car in a little bit of a better window, it works on one particular track."

'Hungarian Grand Prix totally different'

In Hungary, a race awaits in a fortnight' time on a totally different circuit to Silverstone. Near Budapest, speeds are relatively low. "I don't know what's going to happen in Hungary, to be honest. Who's going to be quickest or second quickest? But yeah, the stable factor so far is that every single weekend, it seems like, you know, we are on top, which of course is the most important from our side. But again, Hungary, completely different track. We will put some upgrades on the car there and hopefully they will work well." 

At Silverstone, Red Bull opted to put Verstappen on soft tyres after his pit stop. That turned out not to be a wise choice, Helmut Marko said. Verstappen agreed. "The gap, of course, stayed quite similar, but it wasn't particularly nice to drive. So we'll look into that. Maybe we should have gone on the hard tyre. At least we could have pushed a little bit harder over the whole stint. Maybe, of course, the first two or three laps were a bit more difficult, but at least, yeah, towards the end, probably it was a bit faster."

The start of the race did not go as desired for Verstappen. Lando Norris passed him immediately. "Just a lot of wheelspin. So as soon as that happens, of course, you lose so much drive all the way to Turn 1. And then Lando was in front, and I just tried to stay out of trouble through Turns 3 and 4. Then I had a little battle with Oscar into Copse. I had to stay on the outside, but, yeah, it all worked out."