Renault no danger for Verstappen: "Close together in qualification"

Helmut Marko has stated several times that the championship is still fully open and that Max Verstappen can still fight Lewis Hamilton. Verstappen himself, however, is looking in a different direction and sees Hamilton running further and further out. The Dutchman expects the battle for second and third place to become more exciting than the battle for first place.

Verstappen himself has seen Marko's comments and in Red Bull's online press moment he also indicates that it is mainly about motivation. "Of course it's also about motivating people and that's why he keeps the optimism in it. Of course I don't give up either, only you have to be realistic with the whole year".

Renault close to qualification

"You're just at least half a second short of Mercedes every race, so you're not going to win it on pure speed," explains Verstappen realistically. In Monza the danger will not lie with Mercedes for Verstappen, but especially behind the Dutchman it will be tight. Renault was already strong in Spa and again seems to be very strong in Monza. 

"They will certainly go fast again and I think it could still be close together in qualifying. I'm not afraid of anyone and we'll see how it goes. Things will be different in the race, as you saw at Spa. They just lose half a second per lap, so I don't see a problem there very quickly", Verstappen concluded.