Verstappen: "At this moment I knew: We can compete for the championship"

In a new interview with Formula 1's official news channel, Max Verstappen says he is satisfied with the 2021 Grands Prix that have already taken place. He believes that the Red Bull has been in a good position to challenge defending champion Mercedes since the start of the season, although he also sees plenty of room for improvement.

Asked, in an interview with Formula1.com at what moment he knew the RB16B would be a serious contender for the title, Verstappen points to the Bahrain Grand Prix, the season opener. Red Bull's prospects were already looking rosy during the winter tests, the Dutchman believes: "Our pre-season testing was already pretty decent, and so far on every track we’ve been very competitive."

Verstappen continued: "It’s a lot better than the years before. The team learned from what didn’t go well last year, and from Honda’s side, we’ve had some really nice improvements as well in the engine. When you bring these two things together, we can agree that it’s been pretty good so far."

Good from the start

Nevertheless, the driver from Limburg emphasizes that the drive to improve must not slacken. "It’s a big boost when you’re immediately competitive", says Verstappen. "And now, when you’re fighting for a championship every little detail matters and you need to score points every single weekend. I think so far we’ve done a pretty good job, but it’s never good enough. We need to keep pushing and keep fighting to be even better."