Breaking news
Formula 1 Spanish GP
Verstappen: No corner where Red Bull was beating Mercedes
Max Verstappen believes Red Bull’s car is “not really better in any corner than Mercedes” after his team’s Formula 1 rival’s fifth consecutive one-two in the Spanish Grand Prix.
Scott Mitchell
Edited: May 12, 2019, 7:48 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Verstappen scored his second podium of the season at Barcelona after overhauling both Ferraris, but could not challenge the Mercedes cars of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.
Despite Red Bull’s traditional chassis and aerodynamic prowess, Verstappen believes Mercedes’ 2019 car is simply better at the moment.
“We’re not really better in any corner than Mercedes,” he said. “It’s good, it’s not that it’s a bad car! But at the moment the Mercedes is just quicker than us everywhere.
“Medium-speed, high-speed is pretty similar but that depends a lot on the downforce levels you’re running every single weekend so it’s a bit difficult to say.
“On this track, they were very strong in the low-speed corners. And that is normally pretty good for Monaco [the next race] as well.”
More Barcelona reaction:
- Vettel did Hamilton "a favour" with first-corner move
- Ferrari admits Spanish GP upgrades were "insufficient"
- Steiner reveals post-race "clear the air" talks with Haas duo
Mercedes’ advantage at Barcelona was at its biggest in the slower final sector.
Verstappen said after qualifying that Mercedes has an edge with its understanding of its 2019 car, an assessment Red Bull team principal Christian Horner agrees with.
“Mercedes have done a very good job in extracting performance from the car in that part of the circuit,” he said. “I think that we are not at our optimum yet in terms of where we’d like to be with these new regulations and construction of tyres.
“This weekend was a step forward and hopefully more will follow.”
The Spanish GP was the second race this season in which Red Bull was able to defeat Ferrari in a straight fight.
Horner thinks the Red Bull was “certainly” the second-fastest car at Barcelona and that the team “got the absolute maximum” out of it.
“I think Max’s first lap was outstanding,” said Horner, whose driver swept past both Ferraris after the first corner. “We had an aggressive [two-stop] strategy but we had the pace obviously to beat the Ferraris.
“Considering where we were in the pre-season test eight, nine weeks ago, I think to have caught that gap, to have got that performance on the car, is really encouraging.
“Obviously now we have to try and focus on diminishing the gap further to Mercedes.”
Additional reporting by Jonathan Noble
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 Vettel did Hamilton "a favour" with first-corner move
Next article Mazepin to drive 2019 Mercedes in Barcelona F1 test
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Scott Mitchell
Alfa Romeo must do better in "chaotic" races - Vasseur
Formula 1
Formula 1
Alfa Romeo must do better in "chaotic" races - Vasseur
Honda: Verstappen relationship 'like a young Senna'
Formula 1
Formula 1
Honda: Verstappen relationship 'like a young Senna'
Key team personnel shouldn't be F1 boss - Ferrari
Formula 1
Formula 1
Key team personnel shouldn't be F1 boss - Ferrari
More from
Max Verstappen
Charles Leclerc admits he missed a chance against Max Verstappen – but not the obvious one
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Charles Leclerc admits he missed a chance against Max Verstappen – but not the obvious one
The hidden factor that gives Max Verstappen and Red Bull extra hope for 2027
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
The hidden factor that gives Max Verstappen and Red Bull extra hope for 2027
More from
Red Bull Racing
Laurent Mekies extends contract as Red Bull's F1 team boss
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
54 min
Laurent Mekies extends contract as Red Bull's F1 team boss
Christian Horner opens up on Red Bull F1 exit: “Perhaps it was perceived I had too much influence over the team”
Formula 1
Formula 1 3 h
Christian Horner opens up on Red Bull F1 exit: “Perhaps it was perceived I had too much influence over the team”
Latest news
Laurent Mekies extends contract as Red Bull's F1 team boss
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
54 min
Laurent Mekies extends contract as Red Bull's F1 team boss
Alex Palou to drive Indy NXT machinery in Chris Griffis Memorial Test at IMS
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 1 h
Alex Palou to drive Indy NXT machinery in Chris Griffis Memorial Test at IMS
The six drivers doing double duty in Portimao GTWCE and Barcelona WEC this weekend
WEC
WEC WEC
Barcelona
1 h
The six drivers doing double duty in Portimao GTWCE and Barcelona WEC this weekend
Into the unknown: What to expect from WEC's Barcelona debut
WEC
WEC WEC
Barcelona
3 h
Into the unknown: What to expect from WEC's Barcelona debut
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