Max Verstappen says Australian GP wasn't fun, hopes Red Bull close gap to Mercedes

Making up 14 places on race day has to be an impressive feat, but Verstappen does not feel that was the case after salvaging some points following his uncharacteristic crash in qualifying.

After the race, the Dutchman was asked if he enjoyed the race and all those passes he made; he responded: "No, not really. The overtakes were fun, but I'm also racing cars that are two seconds slower.

"For me, it's just clearing the traffic. It sounds a bit weird, but that's how I see it. It's not really a fair fight, so I just try to get through as clean as possible and try to get into my rhythm when I clear the midfield.

"But we had too much degradation. We were graining a lot on the tyres. That compromised a lot with the rest of the race.

"We thought with the hard compound it would be better for us. But unfortunately that compound didn't work today," Verstappen lamented.

Mercedes are clearly leading the 2026 F1 field. And while Red Bull showed great pace in qualifying, with Isack Hadjar qualifying behind George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, it was Ferrari who took the fight to Mercedes during the race as Hadjar retired with car issues.

Verstappen, on the other hand, struggled to pass Lando Norris in the McLaren towards the end of the race, which meant fifth was not possible.

"Mercedes will be quick everywhere," the Red Bull driver said. "With McLaren, I don't know. In Bahrain [testing], they were faster. It's very hard to say. We need to see track by track.

"In the end, it doesn't matter if you are the third or fourth fastest. We are aiming for the top.

"We just try to work to that steadily. I hope throughout the season we can close that gap because at the moment it's still a decent gap," Verstappen concluded. (Source: Sky Sports F1)