Max Verstappen and Red Bull do not intend to take their foot off the pedal, admitting they want to try and win more races after the summer break.
Christian Horner’s side have done well to overcome their initial reliability woes and have made giant strides in both their championship battles this season.
Red Bull won nine out of the opening 13 races in 2022 with Max Verstappen getting eight of those wins. The reigning world champion has also been on the podium in every race he has completed, barring this year’s race at Silverstone.
The Dutchman has also been able to capitalize on Ferrari’s mistakes and misfortunes to build up an 80-point lead over Charles Leclerc in the World Drivers’ Championship standings. At the same time, Red Bull are 97 points ahead of Scuderia Ferrari in the race for the Constructors’ Championship.
Despite an unassailable advantage, Max Verstappen feels there is room for improvement and wants Red Bull to work at it. In an interview after his win at the 2022 F1 Hungarian GP, the 24-year-old said:
“I think as a team we still want to win more races and that’s what we’ll definitely try to do and after the break. It is a great lead that we have, but we cannot have too many days [like Saturday]. We also had a few little issues with the clutch in the upshifts [in the race]which was not great to drive [with]. Overall, of course it is good, but we [will] just keep on working and keep on trying to improve things.”
The reigning world champion went on to compare his Red Bull RB18 to the Ferrari F1-75, adding:
“Of course, we know that our car in general is quick, but I think throughout the race Ferrari was also very fast. They just made the wrong call with the Hard tyre. It is about choosing the right tires at the right time. There’s still a lot of things we can look into and [that] we can do better. Starting 10th and winning the race on a track like this is very, very good, but [there’s] a lot of things we will analyze and look into [to see] what we could have done better.”
Max Verstappen does not not have a contender at his level this season, according to Spanish F1 journalist
Max Verstappen does not have a contender at his level in the 2022 F1 season, according to Spanish F1 journalist Jesus Balseiro from AS.
After early reliability struggles in Sakhir and Melbourne, the Dutchman has shown immense consistency and maturity. He has clawed his way back and taken a commanding lead in the title race this year.
Balseiro was asked to share his thoughts on Max Verstappen after he won the 2022 F1 Hungarian GP. Max was tenth on the grid but Ferrari squandered their chances of a potential win and double podium. On the F1 Nation podcast, the journalist said:
“I think in a way, maybe Ferrari underestimated his [Max Verstappen’s] potential in the race. We were all a bit blind from the race. From George [Russell]from Charles [Leclerc]. Carlos [Sainz] too. And maybe nobody was looking properly at the pace Max was developing lap by lap. He was catching everybody. At the start, he had no problem. Even Lewis [Hamilton] too. His start was really good and he overtook the two Alpine, it was amazing.”
The Spaniard went on to add:
“I think yes, Max looks smarter now. He won’t have that kind of mistake he had in the past before 2021 may happen for him. But also I fear that he hasn’t got a contender at the same level. Maybe not because of the level of the driver; probably Charles is capable of fighting him. But Red Bull being so strong, having a really good car, being the best team, I don’t think Ferrari will ever match that this year.”
Verstappen could have three DNFs after the summer break and still keep his lead at the top over Charles Leclerc in the World Drivers’ Championship standings. However, it seems more likely that the 24-year-old will break the record for most wins in a season given the way the year has progressed so far.
Edited by Ashvinkumar Patil
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