Verstappen thinks he has no chance against Ferrari in Hungary

F1 News

25 July 2022 at 19:46
Last update 25 July 2022 at 21:19
  • GPblog.com

That Max Verstappen's victory in France was crucial to the championship seems increasingly true. The Dutchman believes he has no chance against the Ferrari's in the upcoming Hungarian Grand Prix.

Verstappen booked crucial victory

Verstappen won 25 points from his title rival following Charles Leclerc' s crash. With his seven wins this season, the Dutchman is 63 points ahead of the Ferrari driver. Every point is worth its weight in gold at the moment, because the coming race is going to be very tough for Verstappen. The Red Bull driver does not think he can compete with Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. In recent races (since Canada) the Ferrari F1-75 has seemed stronger than the Red Bull RB18, but where Leclerc is in the fastest car, Verstappen is taking the points. Should Ferrari not blunder next weekend, Verstappen believes they will be heading for an easy one-two.

Verstappen no chance in Hungary

Auto Motor und Sport quotes the Dutchman: "They have so much downforce that they are even faster when they slide back and forth." In France, the Ferrari's sector times in the curvy sectors, particularly sector three, were much faster than Red Bull's. Yet we also saw Sainz and Leclerc's cars slide regularly in the corners and show instability in some corners. Leclerc did eventually lose the rear and crash into the wall. Verstappen saw that the Ferrari's were still very fast in the corners, despite the sliding.

The characteristics of the Hungaroring in Budapest will play into Ferrari's hands this weekend. The track is one of the most curvy on the calendar and only has one 'real' long straight where top speed matters. Verstappen says: "In Budapest they will be all over us." Verstappen is not alone in his expectations; Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto is also expecting a lot from the upcoming race and has his sights set on a one-two for the team.