Max Verstappen admits Red Bull won't be fighting for Australian GP win
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On 8 March, the lights will go out at Albert Park for the first race of the new Formula 1 era, featuring a completely different car and an entirely new engine. However, Max Verstappen, who is about to start his 12th season in the pinnacle of motorsport, does not feel his Red Bull will be in contention for victory there.
"Overall, I feel positive in the sense that we had very few problems," Verstappen reflected via video link during Viaplay’s media day, looking back on the test days in Bahrain.
"I still find it quite special that we had everything so well under control, with such a new engine and, in general, with so many new people joining. So from that perspective, I’m very happy."
At the same time, the four-time world champion sees room for improvement.
"If you look at performance, I do think we still need to make a step to truly compete at the front," he continued from the Red Bull Technology Campus in Milton Keynes. "Because at the moment, I don’t think we will be fighting for the win. You have to stay realistic. But it was also not our expectation that this would immediately be the case, with the introduction of these new regulations and with our own engine."
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Nevertheless, the competition appeared impressed with what Red Bull has shown so far. Over the course of the two Bahrain tests, drivers including Mercedes’ George Russell pointed to Red Bull as one of the teams to beat with F1’s new engine rules.
"That’s probably because they didn’t expect it either," Verstappen said about the reaction from rivals in the paddock to Red Bull’s productive test outings. "They probably thought the engine would just blow up. So in that regard, we’ve simply done an excellent job and we have things well under control. We can definitely be proud of that.
"On the other hand, we know we still have work to do to find more power," he later added. "But that’s no surprise to us. So where we are now, we can be proud, but of course we always want to improve. As winners, that’s the mentality I have and the team has. We’re realistic about the fact that it won’t be easy. At the same time, we have the ambition to make steps."
After the Bahrain test, Red Bull had around two weeks to reflect on everything it learned to best prepare for the first race in Australia. In this regard, Verstappen admitted there “are still many things you need to fine-tune".
“Also on the engine side,” he added. “The regulations are so complicated that there’s always something you can improve. That’s what we’re very busy with at the moment. Of course, I can’t go into detail about what we’re working on, but there is always room for improvement."
Red Bull's cars are powered by Red Bull engines this year
Going into more detail on the power unit side, he added: "You always have to take into account the temperature of the engine itself, but also the conditions. That always has a big influence on engine performance. I think that’s an area where we can still make a step."
Energy management is the dominant theme in Formula 1 this year. It makes race preparation even more intensive, with some circuits proving significantly more challenging than others. Starting the season on the street circuit in Melbourne makes things immediately difficult.
"It will be more difficult there than in previous years,” the Dutchman conceded. “Some circuits have always been slightly better for energy than others. But now it’s quite extreme. Bahrain is one of the better circuits on the calendar in that respect, so you don’t see as much of the need to reduce speed – although it’s still there. But Melbourne is one of the least favourable circuits in this regard, because you have very few heavy braking zones and a lot of long straights.
“So that will be very difficult. Small differences and details in how you charge the battery – how you do that as a manufacturer – have a huge impact on performance. It’s very complicated. To get that as optimal as possible, we’re spending a lot of time in the simulator."
According to Verstappen, the RB22 will look largely the same in Australia as it did during testing in Bahrain. Asked whether a completely different Red Bull will appear at the season opener, he first joked: "No, I don’t think so. The colours will stay nicely the same." Before adding more seriously: "The parts will look fairly similar. But throughout the season, you will see major changes at many teams."
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