Max Verstappen left the Spanish Grand Prix with mixed feelings. While fourth place represented a significant improvement compared to his first-lap retirement in Monaco, the result also confirmed the current limitations of Red Bull’s package, with the team still trailing Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren in outright performance.
Red Bull leaves Barcelona as the fourth-fastest team
Although Max Verstappen eventually secured a fourth-place finish, helped by Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s retirement, the Dutchman admitted that the result reflected Red Bull’s current position in the competitive order. The points were valuable for the championship, but they did little to hide the fact that the Milton Keynes-based squad remains some distance behind its main rivals.
The Barcelona weekend once again exposed some of the weaknesses that have affected Red Bull throughout the season, particularly on circuits that place heavy demands on tyre management and feature long, high-speed corners.
Max Verstappen explains where Red Bull is still lacking
“We were a bit off the pace on all tyre compounds,” Max Verstappen explained in the media pen while speaking to a group of accredited journalists, including FormulaPassion.it. “The strategy we adopted was good. I think I chose the right tyres compared to others because the Hard compound didn’t give me a good feeling. But regardless of the tyre choice, we simply didn’t have the pace.”
“The problems show up mainly at circuits with high-speed corners, where there is a lot of energy going through the tyres and degradation is high. On tracks like these, it feels as though we are still missing something. It’s clear that we are still behind Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren because, in practice, I finished behind one car from each of those teams.”
“Maybe we have improved a little, but we are still not where we want to be. It’s a development process and I hope we can improve the performance very soon. We are working on upgrades.”
A remark about George Russell and praise for Andrea Kimi Antonelli
Verstappen also commented on Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s retirement. The Red Bull driver was seen speaking with the Mercedes rookie after the race and expressed sympathy for the young Italian, who once again appeared to have strong pace before his race came to an early end: “That’s part of racing as well. I mean, I’ve had things like that happen to me a couple of times,” Verstappen said. “The encouraging thing is that he was flying again, and I think the problem happened right after he had passed his teammate, so the pace is definitely there. Sometimes reliability can be an issue, but that’s part of racing.”
The comment about Antonelli overtaking his teammate before retiring may also be interpreted by some as a subtle dig at George Russell, although Verstappen did not expand further on the subject.
Congratulations for Lewis Hamilton
The four-time world champion also took a moment to congratulate Lewis Hamilton after the Ferrari driver secured his first victory for the Scuderia.
“Well done, congratulations to him. It’s always a special moment to win, even when you’ve already won so much. And winning with Ferrari for the first time, I think, makes it even more special,” Max Verstappen concluded.
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