Verstappen realistic: "We won't talk about Mercedes"

Max Verstappen is realistic about his qualification for the Italian Grand Prix. The Red Bull Racing driver did not get any further than a place on the third row of the grid, but Verstappen does not want to rule out a podium finish yet. Moreover, Honda will not be blamed for fifth place on Saturday afternoon.

"Not this weekend. The whole weekend we have been struggling," says Verstappen to Sky Sports. The setting of the RB16 is still not as desired. "I tried everything - I tried all the wing angles that is possible to run at Monza and at the end the laptimes are the same, but with low downforce the car is still not where we want it to be."

On the straights, Verstappen came up short, but according to the 22-year-old Dutchman, Honda is not to blame. "You could say that we are down on power but that is not an excuse. A lot of things that we need to look at," he says.

A fifth place isn't a great starting position, but it's not a big surprise for Red Bull either. "Monza is a very special circuit. On a track with a normal layout we are back in third place," said Verstappen, who hopes to be able to move up places tomorrow. "The pace is close, but we can still fight for P3. We won't talk about Mercedes because they are just on another level."