General
Verstappen: "It bothers me that people are criticizing my team"
- GPblog.com
Max Verstappen did not have the dream start of the season last Sunday because he dropped out. This weekend he will try again and the good news is that last weekend's problems have been solved. Also the Dutchman still has all the confidence in his team and of course the Honda engine. Nevertheless Red Bull Racing received quite a bit of criticism as they showed a lot of self-confidence and the failure of Verstappen was therefore a bit painful. However, the criticism on the team is not justified according to Verstappen.
Full confidence in the team
In a Zoom interview with Dutch media and quoted by the NOS, Verstappen says Thursday: "My confidence in the team has not dented. We will now have to correct the things that didn't go well in the first race weekend." This is important, because with a shorter calendar the points count this year more than ever.
That the RB16 is ready for battle is confirmed by Verstappen once again, because the preparation that Red Bull Racing has made in the run-up to this season was the best ever. It's just been annoying that they haven't been able to show that potential. Nevertheless, Mercedes still seems to be a a bridge to far when it comes to speed, but they are working on that.
"We've made a leap forward, but Mercedes has made steps too. In some corners we are faster, but the tuning isn't optimal." They can now perfect that setup, allowing us to get even closer to the competition this weekend. Verstappen states that if the difference is two or three tenths, they can certainly fight for victory with Mercedes.
Verstappen a bit irritated
The message is clear: Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing are already confident that things will go well this weekend. However, the high expectations - which they created themselves - caused quite a lot of negative reactions towards the team after the first Grand Prix and that's something that bothers Verstappen a bit.
"It bothers me that people criticise my team. We fell out of the race because of a little thing... I wasn't satisfied with the balance of the car in the first weekend, but I think we absolutely did the best preparation in all those years." Falling out comes down to a bit of bad luck. "I know what's going on on the team, outsiders don't."