Breaking news
Formula 1 Styrian GP
Verstappen: Red Bull "a bit too slow" to fight Mercedes
Max Verstappen says Red Bull is "a bit too slow", after being unable to stop Lewis Hamilton storming away to victory in the Styrian Grand Prix.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: Jul 12, 2020, 3:27 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The Dutchman had high hopes of being able to challenge pole position man Hamilton thanks to his front row start, but in the end never really was able to threaten the reigning world champion.
Having sat around five seconds adrift of the Mercedes for much of the afternoon, he eventually dropped further away after picking up damage to his front wing late in the race.
As Verstappen's pace fell away, he was eventually overhauled by Hamilton's Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas.
Speaking after the race, Verstappen welcomed a podium finish after his retirements but says there was little to get excited about – beyond a temporary repass of Bottas late on.
"I tried but we are a bit too slow," he said about his battle with Hamilton.
"I did what I could also when Valtteri passed me. I tried to make it a bit difficult, because he was anyway going to get by one lap later.
"But at least it was a bit fun because the race was boring. [The] podium was good but still a lot of work to do."
Verstappen thinks that Red Bull needs to catch up with both car and engine, as he reckoned more work was needed if the team was going to close the gap to Mercedes.
"I was just pushing as hard as I could to stay with them, but clearly it is still not good enough," he said about the difference to Mercedes.
"The gap compared to the guys behind were massive. I was a bit shocked. I tried everything I could, but it's still not enough. We still have some work to do.
"But to bounce back from zero points last week to a podium now is a good start, but I think as a team we want to win and we want to fight for the championship. If you want to fight for the championship of course you need to win races."
He added "We need to look into it. I think we lose quite a bit on the straight as well, so it's a bit of both at the moment. We need to keep on working harder to try and close the gap."
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 2020 F1 World Championship points after Styrian Grand Prix
Next article Racing Point "debatably" the second fastest F1 car - Stroll
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jonathan Noble
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Formula 1
Formula 1
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
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
1 h
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 4 h
Christian Horner opens up on Red Bull F1 exit: “Perhaps it was perceived I had too much influence over the team”
Latest news
Why Christian Horner banned Mercedes' name as Red Bull built its own F1 engine
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
5 min
Why Christian Horner banned Mercedes' name as Red Bull built its own F1 engine
Laurent Mekies extends contract as Red Bull's F1 team boss
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
1 h
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
2 h
The six drivers doing double duty in Portimao GTWCE and Barcelona WEC this weekend
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