Verstappen: 'We keep pushing, but Mercedes is just the fastest'

How will Red Bull Racing perform in Monza, where it's all about top speed. With Honda they managed to make a big jump, but they are clearly behind Mercedes and at Renault it turns out that they are very strong on the straight after Spa. Verstappen, however, does not expect any danger from the French team.

“I think where there are a lot of long straights Renault seem to have quite a good balance on the car and a good trade-off between top speed and cornering but we will see. Overall I don’t think they are a massive threat, maybe at Monza they will be close again but we will see when we are out on track”, explains Verstappen in the preview of Red Bull.

Fighting for first place again soon

Verstappen does not yet know what his chances are in Monza. “It is difficult to say at the moment as it isn’t normally our best track with all the long straights but last year in practice we were quite competitive in practice before taking a penalty so let’s hope that it is going to be the same again this year. Spa was my sixth podium in a row so hopefully we can keep this streak going and soon fight for first instead of second and third but that might not be the case here.”

“Of course we keep pushing and we don’t give up but we have to be realistic that Mercedes are still the favourites”. Verstappen expects the dominant Mercedes to remain strong despite the ban on party mode. “I don’t want to talk too much about the engine qualifying modes as we really don’t know how it will affect us and other teams. I hope it will bring everyone a little closer together but there is no point in guessing”, conclude Verstappen.