Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has insisted that Max Verstappen will have difficulty defending himself against the superior speed of his Mercedes rivals for the remainder of the season. The Dutchman aims to return to winning ways this weekend in Qatar after failing Lewis Hamilton’s Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Verstappen started from the front row in Interlagos and overtook pole sitter Valtteri Bottas on the first lap.
He began to pull away at the front before Hamilton caught up with him after battling his way through the field from 10th place.
The Mercedes man tried to bypass Verstappen on lap 48, but was pushed to the far after his Red Bull rival hit the brakes too late at Turn 4.
In the end, however, the change only took place 11 laps before Hamilton raced to the finish line with a 10-second lead.
It was one of the 36-year-old’s best performances to date, with his efforts behind the wheel hugely aided by the impressive speed of his Mercedes car.
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The Silver Arrows were untouchable on the straights and Horner believes that Verstappen will face them again the next time he is asked in Qatar.
“Your speed on the straight is really impressive,” the Red Bull boss told reporters after the Brazilian Grand Prix.
“This new engine, you have a Monaco rear wing here, so it’s very, very impressive. And Max can’t defend himself against it.
“If another driver had to be within 0.4 seconds to get close to an overtaking maneuver, the Mercedes drivers were 0.9 seconds here” [behind and] could be [attempting a pass] in the braking area at the end of the straight.
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“So this is a very powerful weapon and there have been some very fast tracks in the last three races.”
It remains to be seen whether Red Bull Mercedes can keep their distance when the two rivals face each other for the first time in Qatar this weekend.
The Losail track is expected to be suitable for Verstappen and Sergio Perez due to the need for a high downforce setup.
Perez has already hinted that Red Bull will win the next race, even though the speed of the Mercedes cars poses a serious threat to their hopes for victory.
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“Your speed on the straight is on a different planet,” said Perez after finishing fourth in Brazil.
“I looked in my mirror at the corner exit and felt pretty safe. But then I looked in again and he did [Hamilton] was right next to me.
“It was really impressive. We’ll see what we can do in Qatar.
“It will be a different track, probably the straight line speed won’t really matter there so hopefully we can be a lot more competitive.
“It’s a track with very high downforce – very fast. And hopefully the main straight isn’t too long.”
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