Verstappen happy with Honda: "But qualifying mode not good enough"

Last week the Grand Prix of Austria ended in a disaster for Max Verstappen. The Dutchman feels a lot better for the second weekend in Spielberg, with a first place during VT2.

Red Bull Racing has brought a number of upgrades to Austria for the Styrian Grand Prix, which Verstappen is clearly happy with. "I am a lot more satisfied with the car. It feels like a different car. The car is now much more predictable. Last week I spun or lost balance, because I just couldn't feel what the car was going to do and was very nervous. We don't have that at all now, so I'm very happy with that. I think we have taken a step forward", the Dutchman says in an interview with Ziggo Sport.

Yet Verstappen doesn't know if the upgrades are enough to beat the biggest competitor. "I'm not going to say that we can beat Mercedes in qualifying straight away, but from our side it's a car that is much nicer to work with."

During the second Free Practice the driver of Red Bull Racing had to return to the garage with possible technical problems. Was it a repeat of last weekend? "There were no real problems. An engineer forgot to put a setting back. Once I got into the pits they were already telling me what to do to solve the problem".

Not only Red Bull Racing has done a lot of work in recent months, but also engine supplier Honda. Verstappen is happy with the Japanese engine, but always sees room for improvement. "The qualifying mode on the RB16 is good, but not good enough. Mercedes has taken a bigger step than we did during the winter, so we have to keep accelerating. Of course you never have enough power", concludes the Dutchman.