Autobayng News Team
Max Verstappen says Red Bull need to make more improvements to match McLaren’s performance in medium-speed corners.
Red Bull have reduced their deficit to McLaren since the summer break. Verstappen has taken two wins and two second places over the last four rounds as Red Bull’s car proved competitive on both the low-downforce Monza and Baku circuits plus the high-downforce Singapore street track.
However Verstappen said there are still areas they need to work on to be able to challenge McLaren at all types of tracks.
I think in general they are still quite strong in the medium-speed corners,” he said. “That’s definitely a strength of their car.
“The rest depends a bit on the track layout and conditions, it’s a bit difficult to say. But medium-speed corners is probably still where they’re very good.”
Red Bull have improved significantly since the last race before the summer break, the Hungarian Grand Prix, where Verstappen qualified eighth and finished ninth.
“The car is just a bit more balanced now,” he said. “It doesn’t oversteer dramatically or understeer dramatically.
“But every weekend, you’re fine-tuning things because it’s never perfect. Luckily, lately, the car, it’s been a bit more together.”
He started and finished second in Singapore, but complained repeatedly about his car’s handling during the race, particularly due to the trouble he encountered with its gearshifts. Verstappen, who finished five seconds behind race winner George Russell, believes they could have got more out of the car.
“The last three weekends have been very nice, some better than others,” he said. “I still think in Singapore we didn’t maximise the potential of the car.
“But again, you analyse everything and try to do better. That’s what we’ll try to do again here.”
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