Max Verstappen says he’s always showing Red Bull, who gives him everything in his performance after winning the sprint at the Belgian Grand Prix.
There was a first race weekend for Red Bull without Christian Horner as Team Principal won early Saturday, with Verstappen overtook Oscar Piastri and earning a sprint. The Dutch, who later came in fourth in the Grand Prix itself, says that even without his victory, Red Bull always gets a full commitment from him.
“The team can always count on me,” Verstappen said. “They always do my best for anyone in charge. They know that. I’m never holding back or not. I’m always trying to give them the best possible outcome. It’s also what they pay for me.
Giving Laurent Mekies a victory in his first competitive race as principal of the Red Bull team, Verstappen says that the early vibe has been positive, although little has changed at this stage since Horner was rejected.
“It’s very difficult to say suddenly, within two weeks, there’s a lot of things that need to change from blue,” he said. “It’s about starting a relationship and understanding how everyone is working. And at some point, you might come to a conclusion and maybe want to change something. This is what happens in the coming weeks and months.
“It was really early on, but so far he’s very enthusiastic and very motivated. That’s exactly what you want. I did very well with him. It was a very good start.”
The momentum was a little stuck, and Verstappen came in fourth in qualifying after a mistake on the final lap, but he says the performance is available and feels he should be able to make Charles Leclerc better in third place on Sunday.
“For some reason, Q3 wasn’t very good,” he said. “The first set didn’t have the same grip. Usually, when you do great progression, I couldn’t do it at all, and in the second set we tried something, and it basically backfired. Unfortunately, I couldn’t put down the same power from turn 1 as I’m already starting the lap.
“Now, I’m not completely satisfied with the balance and lose 0.2 seconds on turn 1 and it actually looks totally fine, but that wasn’t what I wanted.
“Normally (I can’t fight wet) because McLarens are stronger than wet than dry. Of course, they control it very well because the overheating is even bigger. For me, the goal is at least P3.”