Verstappen: "Essential to win this race and be in front of Ferrari"

The fourth round in the 2022 F1 Championship is scheduled for this weekend. Max Verstappen needs to leave his rival at Ferrari behind and win this and the coming races.

The reigning world champion is currently in sixth place in the championship with 25 points gained from the only race he finished and won. While the Red Bull Racing is a lot faster than the Mercedes, the Dutchman still has to beat his rival from last year Lewis Hamilton. Also ahead of him are his teammate Sergio Perez, Hamilton's teammate George Russell, and the two Ferrari drivers. The gap to Charles Leclerc is already 46 points, so Verstappen knows that it will now be essential to win.

Red Bull is three points behind

The Red Bull seems to be a match for the Ferrari, but in terms of reliability, the RB18 falls short. In conversation with Gazetta dello Sport, the driver says: "It is not enough to be competitive if your equipment is not reliable." The Dutchman's two dropouts have twice deprived him of an almost certain second place. Those lost 36 points must now be made up.

"It is essential to win this race and be ahead of Ferrari," Verstappen continued. "Currently Ferrari is fast, reliable and better with the tires. These are all aspects we still need to improve on." In addition, the Limburger also has the problem that he is not yet satisfied with the balance of his car. Especially in qualifying, he suffers from that imbalance.