Last year's surprise Austrian Grand Prix winner Max Verstappen does not believe he can pull off the sensational victory he did 12 months ago at Red Bull's home track, the sweetest of victories that seems aeons away from the relentless, albeit dull, domination by Mercedes that currently prevails.
Patience and Verstappen are not synonymous, understandably so because the Dutchman has established himself as the challenger apparent to the reign of Lewis Hamilton but they are sending him to a gunfight with a slingshot.
In a car that could sniff, let alone match Mercedes, the Honda-powered Red Bull driver would, without doubt, be a victory contender and title candidate.
But when asked, ahead of this weekend's race in Spielberg, what would lead to a repeat of his 2018 triumph, Verstappen quipped, "We need quite a bit of luck for that!"
While Mercedes is even more dominant than last year at this point of the F1 World Championship, a more mature and rapid Verstappen is also enjoying a very consistent season — but mostly just off the podium.
In eight races, the Red Bull lead driver has never been worse than fifth but also never better than third, and he cynically commented "great!" on his total of five fourth-place finishes.
"I wouldn't call it frustrating, it's not that I am miles off," he pointed out. "I always have a Ferrari in front or a Mercedes but I am not that far away."
With two third-place finishes this season - in Australia and Spain - Verstappen has only marginally added to his career total of five wins and 24 podiums.
It has prompted speculation that he could move to another team even before his current contract with Red Bull expires at the end of the 2020 season.
"It is more important to just see what the team will bring in the outstanding races," Verstappen said. "I am not too worried about what is going to happen next year, or even beyond that.
"At the moment I just want to focus on this project as I think there is still a lot of potential and we are just getting started," he added, referring to the team's switch of engine manufacturers for this season from Renault to Honda.
"Of course I'm not here to be fourth, I want to win races. It's not nice to be at this fourth spot always just missing out on the podium," added Verstappen, not for the first time and probably not the last.
Big Question: Is Max being wasted at Red Bull?
https://www.grandprix247.com/2018/08/07/verstappen-im-here-to-win-50-or-60-f1-races/
Latest News
Loading
