While the season has been rather disappointing for Red Bull, Max Verstappen remains confident for next year, believing that the team has a good basis to compete with Mercedes and Ferrari.
The season was very complicated for Red Bull. While there were many expectations around Max Verstappen, the Dutch driver never seemed to be able to compete with the Mercedes and Ferrari drivers throughout the season, winning only two Grand Prix races, the last one in July. But despite this disappointment, Max Verstappen wants to retain the positive things that have come out of this season.
“Everyone has the same desire to progress”
Indeed, the Dutch driver confided in his frustration at not being able to compete with his main rivals. And with hindsight, Max Verstappen admitted that it was complicated for him to be able to hope for something this year, but that he was rather confident about Red Bull’s evolution as early as next season:
“We haven’t made as much progress as we would have liked, but when you compare us to Mercedes, it’s not as if we were really far away.
:But certainly, we haven’t made any progress against Ferrari. We just have to keep working hard, to learn as much as possible for next year too. And on the power unit side, we can always do better.
“Everyone knows it, it’s no secret, we all want it.
“It’s not just now that I say it: everyone on the team is shocked. And everyone has the same desire to progress. Of course, I didn’t expect to be able to fight for the title this year. This is not a realistic goal when you start working with a new partner [Honda], unless that partner has proven [their performance] for a very long time.
“We are really in this construction phase, together, to try to maximize the potential. We’ve had some glimpses of it. So now, we have to put everything together for next year” concludes the Dutchman.
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