Max Verstappen says it was satisfying to get the win in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix two weeks ago after missing out on the victory in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
The Red Bull Racing driver jumped from third on the grid to lead at the start at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari last time out and was only denied the lead in the Drivers’ Championship by Lewis Hamilton’s charge through to second place.
Verstappen felt Red Bull learned a lot from losing out in Bahrain and were able to turn around their fortunes quickly at Imola to take a well-earned first win of the 2021 season.
“It was of course great to win, after missing out in Bahrain it felt very satisfying to win the race in Imola,” said Verstappen. “There were definitely a few things that we wanted to learn from the Bahrain race, which we did, and we could bring home the win.
“We also know that it’s a very long season, so we just have to stay very focussed and I am always looking ahead, Imola wasn’t perfect so we have to keep pushing.”
The start played a big part in Verstappen’s race, with the launch enabling him to jump polesitter Hamilton and team-mate Sergio Pérez heading into Tamburello. And the Dutchman feels Red Bull have made gains in that and other areas this season, which he feels will benefit him as he targets his maiden World Championship in 2021.
“It’s always tricky to know what’s going to happen but it felt like I had a good launch, I didn’t maximise performance on the Saturday, so it definitely felt good to lead the race from Turn 1,” said the Dutchman.
“I’m happy with what we have with the RB16B, it’s faster, it has more grip and better balance. We lost downforce with the floor, but I think we lost a bit less than other teams and it shows that we made a good step forward.
“We’re starting the season strong, the best we’ve had since I’ve been with the Team. It’s a long season, and if we want to fight for the championship, we have to keep improving.”
Turning his attention to this weekend’s Portuguese Grand Prix at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, Verstappen feels Red Bull should be in the hunt for victory again. He finished third in 2020, and with a better car than he had at his disposal last year, he is hopeful of another strong result that could take him to the lead of the championship for the first time in his career.
“I am looking forward to going back to Portugal, we were on the podium there last year and I think we have a better car now so I’m looking forward to extracting everything we can from the car and have a bit of fun out there,” said Verstappen.
“Every race weekend so far, we’ve really felt that there is a chance to win, it feels like a different mindset now when you know you can fight for pole. We’ve definitely learnt a lot over the years, I’m very excited to see what is ahead of us.
“It won’t be easy but we are going to do everything we can to stay in the fight this season.”
“We know if we do everything right we have a realistic chance of winning the race” – Sergio Pérez
Team-mate Pérez had a mixed weekend at Imola, claiming his first career front row start on the Saturday before falling out of the points in the mixed conditions on Sunday.
Despite missing out on points, mainly due to a spin just after the restart that dropped him down the order, Pérez feels motivated that the RB16B is a competitive car in 2021, and he hopes to be able to push himself into the fight for race wins sooner rather than later.
“The motivation is sky high,” said the Mexican. “The way we work at Red Bull, we prepare our race weekend to take the maximum from it because we know if we do everything right we have a realistic chance of winning the race.
“Everyone in the Team is also pushing really hard to try to improve the RB16B so we can maximise every single weekend with both cars – that’s the target. Imola was a missed opportunity as I think we should have finished 1-2 but hopefully we can achieve that this weekend.”
Pérez hopes to put together a complete weekend in Portugal this weekend, and he knows to do that he has to maximise the potential of the RB16B.
“Imola is a pretty tough track to get on top of and maximise, especially if you’ve recently swapped teams, but in Portugal I hope to be in the mix and get everything out of the car,” he said.
“We know what the car is capable of and the goal is to deliver on its potential. The positive is that the pace is there, we just need to continue building on our form and take another step forwards.
“Portugal is a great place to go racing. It’s fairly new to the calendar and last year was tricky with the new asphalt so it will be interesting to see how it is this year in terms of grip but certainly I think it’s a good track.
“It’s the first back-to-back of the season and races are coming thick and fast now so it will be important to be on it!”
Pérez says he is continuing to adapt to his new team and the RB16B, and he says the more time he gets behind the wheel, the more comfortable and confident he becomes.
“It’s just time in the car,” Pérez said. “Obviously the more work you put in, the more you get out, so I analyse, I make notes, I speak to the engineers and I watch back footage.
“Everything you do just helps get you as ready as possible. You can see with everyone that has changed teams this year, it takes time to get up to speed.
“Everyone is good, everyone is exceptionally fast, it’s just a process you need to go through before everything comes to you naturally and hopefully we can achieve that in the opening races of the season.”
