Despite finishing fourth in the 2019 Chinese Grand Prix, Max Verstappen admits that Red Bull Racing are still not quick enough to regularly challenge Scuderia Ferrari and Mercedes-AMG Motorsport.
Verstappen started the race fifth following a frustrating qualifying for the Dutchman, but a clever strategy allowed him to split the two Ferrari’s in the race, beating Charles Leclerc.
“It was not an easy race but as a team we did a really good job today,” said Verstappen. “We planned a good strategy to undercut a Ferrari and stay ahead, so we definitely maximised the result to finish fourth ahead of Charles.”
Verstappen was able to challenge the other Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel during the first pit-stop phase but lost out once Vettel’s tyres gained temperature.
“I had a good battle with Seb when he came out of the pits on colder tyres which was good fun. That was my one shot and I tried but after that you could see that we didn’t quite have the pace to fight him to the end.
“I was pushing really hard and we can be happy with the team result.”
Verstappen sits third in drivers’ championship standings, twenty-nine points behind Lewis Hamilton, but believes Red Bull still need to find something more in order to fight at the front.
“We still need a bit more pace to fight Mercedes and Ferrari but we are in a good position and collecting solid points each race.”
