Verstappen heads into this weekend’s French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard comfortably leading the F1 drivers’ championship by 38 points over Charles Leclerc, and with six wins under his belt.
However, the Dutchman has seen his points lead eroded in the last two races as Ferrari took back-to-back victories at Silverstone and the Red Bull Ring with both of its drivers.
Although competitive advantage has swung back and forth at the front of the grid this year, Verstappen reckons “there has never been a really dominant weekend” for Red Bull.
“Overall, I felt like at the beginning of the year we were the ones that were kind of chasing and trying to beat Ferrari,” said Max Verstappen.
“Then they had some dropouts and we, of course, took advantage of that, or through strategy.”
“So I think in general, we, from my feeling, are still chasing them a little bit.”
Asked if he thought Ferrari had the fastest car, Verstappen replied: “Of course it depends a bit on the circuits, but overall, I feel like they had more dominant weekends than us.”
Verstappen also pointed out how quickly the landscape of the championship can change, having seen his 46-point deficit to Leclerc after the first three races turn into a 49-point lead six rounds later.
“After Melbourne, I thought if there was a chance, until the end of the season we wouldn’t be able to catch up with them,” admitted Verstappen.
“And then he turned around very quickly. But that also shows that he can go the other direction very quickly, so we always have to be on our toes. We can’t make mistakes.”
Verstappen highlighted the extra weight of Red Bull’s RB18 compared to Ferrari’s, costing them lap time, and warned of complacency when it comes to the development battle.
“We still have to bring updates to the car and we have to work all the time, and there is no guarantee,” Verstappen said.
“People say that Red Bull has been very good in the past and has brought updates and development. But this year we have to prove it again, because every year if you start thinking like that, the normal thing is that you fall behind, because you think you’re that good.”
“We always have to show that we are good and that is what we are trying to do.”
Verstappen took pole and won the sprint race at the Austrian Grand Prix two weeks ago but was unable to compete with Leclerc in the race, seeing the Ferrari driver overtake him three times.
Verstappen had more problems with the hard tire than Leclerc, but believes that the deficit to Ferrari “is not only related to the tyres.”
“I think also the way we set up the car, not purely from the set-up but also the car package, I think it was not right in Austria, we found that out,” said Verstappen.
“So hopefully with the things we’ve learned, in general, we’ll be more competitive.”
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