Verstappen sees major advantages for McLaren: 'We're all doing that wrong'

If you compare Verstappen's laps with those of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, you will see that the McLaren drivers make the difference on the straights in Miami. Verstappen simply lacks pure power and top speed with his Red Bull Racing car. That is not surprising, because McLaren - like Mercedes - has installed new engines in the cars. "Yes, that makes a difference", Verstappen has noticed.

The Red Bull driver realises that this difference makes it difficult to defend. Moreover, McLaren has another advantage over the RB21: the way in which the British team's tyres stay alive longer. “You can already see it on the intermediates in the rain. As soon as those tyres overheat, they have a huge advantage. Then we all do something wrong,” Verstappen told the Dutch media, including GPblog.

Just like the competition, Red Bull is looking for ways to catch up with McLaren in this area. “We are doing our best to solve it, but some things take longer. We have to learn to understand it all properly. And then of course producing it is a different story.”

Moreover, the development costs are not unlimited with the budget cap. “Yes, that too.”