Breaking news
Formula 1
Verstappen: Red Bull "definitely overachieved" in 2020
Max Verstappen believes Red Bull had "definitely overachieved" by splitting the Mercedes drivers in the Formula 1 championship, and that the team must "accept the situation" it currently faces.
Luke Smith
Edited: Aug 28, 2020, 11:45 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Red Bull has struggled to match Mercedes for outright pace through the opening six races of the 2020 season, especially over one lap in qualifying.
But Verstappen has been able to get closer to Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas in the races, finishing in the top two at each of the last four rounds, including a victory in the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.
Reflecting on the opening six races of the season ahead of this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix, Verstappen said that Red Bull could be proud of how it has overachieved given Mercedes' pace advantage.
"Looking at pure pace, they of course, both of them, they should be ahead of me in the championship," Verstappen said, referring to the Mercedes drivers.
"I had one retirement,[Bottas] finished out of the points with a puncture, so no points. But of course that was unlucky for him, and unlucky for me in the first race.
"To be second in a few races where I think Mercedes had more pace, we definitely overachieved a bit. And besides that, I think we always maximised what we could. I'm very happy with that.
"As a team and myself, we are not here to be second or third, we want to fight for the championship, but you also have to accept the situation we are in, that we are not really able to challenge.
"It looks like it on paper, but if you look at the pure pace, we are too slow. At the moment, we are relying on a bit of an off day for Mercedes or a bit of luck to win a race. So there's still a lot of work to do."
Read Also:
- Verstappen "annihilating" teammates like Senna, Schumacher did
- Red Bull still believes high-rake concept is right for its car
Verstappen was able to beat the Mercedes drivers at the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix thanks to a softer selection of tyres that highlighted some weaknesses in the Mercedes W11 car.
The same tyre selection has been made for this weekend's race in Belgium, but Verstappen doubted it offered the same opportunity to Red Bull given the cooler temperatures at Spa.
"We kept saying: 'Ah, we need heat, we need heat' - well, we definitely got beaten in the heat in Barcelona," Verstappen said.
"Maybe we could have done things better. But the gap like that, even with a bit of set-up work, it's not going to change.
"Maybe the tyres will help. I don't know. It's not going to be warm enough, I think.
"It's tricky, but I like to be realistic and I don't like to tell fairy tales. So it will be hard, but I will try to of course be on the podium."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Haas F1 stay "almost impossible" without cost cap
Next article Belgian GP: Bottas pips Hamilton, Verstappen in FP1
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Luke Smith
1998 Belgian GP: When the Schumachers went to war
Formula 1
Formula 1
1998 Belgian GP: When the Schumachers went to war
The race that transformed perceptions of Red Bull
Formula 1
Formula 1
The race that transformed perceptions of Red Bull
Hamilton in the process of selecting Brad Pitt’s co-star for F1 movie
Formula 1
Formula 1
Hamilton in the process of selecting Brad Pitt’s co-star for F1 movie
More from
Max Verstappen
How Max Verstappen beat Red Bull's own simulation tools with P2 in Brazil
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
How Max Verstappen beat Red Bull's own simulation tools with P2 in Brazil
Max Verstappen "needs to understand what happened" after "night and day" F1 comeback in Brazilian GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
Max Verstappen "needs to understand what happened" after "night and day" F1 comeback in Brazilian GP
More from
Red Bull Racing
FIA reveals latest ADUO results in final review of 2026 F1 season
Formula 1
Formula 1 19 h
FIA reveals latest ADUO results in final review of 2026 F1 season
Laurent Mekies: Liam Lawson’s fate has nothing to do with me
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
22 h
Laurent Mekies: Liam Lawson’s fate has nothing to do with me
Latest news
Samantha Busch full speech as she accepts Kyle Busch's Most Popular Driver award
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup 6 h
Samantha Busch full speech as she accepts Kyle Busch's Most Popular Driver award
Kyle Busch posthumously wins NASCAR Cup Most Popular Driver Award
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
6 h
Kyle Busch posthumously wins NASCAR Cup Most Popular Driver Award
Jamie Little will not return to NASCAR broadcast booth in 2027
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup 9 h
Jamie Little will not return to NASCAR broadcast booth in 2027
Logano, Sargeant, and Muniz among Ford drivers taking part in Daytona exhibition race
General
Misc General 10 h
Logano, Sargeant, and Muniz among Ford drivers taking part in Daytona exhibition race
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe