Max Verstappen says he could finish "realistically P5, maybe P4"

Max Verstappen says that he may only be able to finish as high as P5 during Sunday's Russian Grand Prix, after a five-place grid penalty relegated him down to P9, having qualified fourth.

All Red Bull and Toro Rosso drivers took new engines for this race, leaving them all with penalties, so Verstappen knew that he would have to fight back through the field at some point this weekend.

The Dutchman spoke about how Ferrari have a huge advantage on the straights, telling Sky Sports: "Ferrari didn't turn their engines up until today. It's more than a second we lose on the straights combined - you can't do anything about that. There are corners on this circuit but a second? It's till too much.

"To split to Mercedes cars was the best thing we could to today. I think realistically [I could finish] P5, maybe P4. We qualified P4 so if you have the pace maybe you can go forward."