“Exciting one ahead” – Verstappen fired up for home race with Red Bull upgrades

The four-time world champion, in his preview of the weekend, highlighted the significance of the Spielberg race for the team, while also stressing the demands of the circuit and the importance of finding the right balance with the car.

“Austria is of course a home Grand Prix for the team. It’s been a great track for me in the past and we have had really good memories there. It’s a very interesting track and all of the corners are quite different, so it’s really important to get a good balance out of the car. You need both high-speed and low-speed performance, good traction and now, with how energy-sensitive some tracks are, it is important to work to get on top of this. We have a new package we are bringing, so it is exciting to see how much this could give us in lap time,” Verstappen said via the team’s press release.

The 28-year-old noted how he will be sporting a special orange helmet for the weekend, which serves as a tribute to the Dutch fans who have supported him throughout his career, while detailing how excited he is to see how the action at the Red Bull Ring unfolds.

The Dutch driver added that the weekend in the Styrian mountains has been highly anticipated by the team for several reasons, including the introduction of new upgrades. He also pointed to his strong recovery drive in Barcelona as a positive sign of progress.

Verstappen concluded by expressing optimism that the latest developments from the Milton Keynes-based outfit will help close the gap to their rivals at the front of the grid.

“Austria is a weekend I've been looking forward to for a while. It's our home race, and it'll be the first time that I get to experience an atmosphere like it driving for this team, so it's definitely an exciting one to head into. Barcelona was a good indication of the progress we have made, and even though we had a setback with the start, I managed to extract some good pace from the car and put in a strong recovery drive. We're bringing a new package to Austria and, as with any upgrade, the key objective will be to understand it and maximise its potential throughout the weekend. Hopefully it'll take us closer to where we want to be, and we get to experience some good racing in front of our home support,” Verstappen concluded.

The Red Bull Ring has proven to be a good hunting ground for Verstappen and Red Bull, and through the years, the Dutch driver has claimed five pole positions and four victories at the circuit.