Max Verstappen, with his second-place finish in Canada, has closed the gap on both championship leader Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. Thanks in part to a clash between the two McLaren drivers, the Dutchman was able to score valuable points for the championship. However, Verstappen does not believe that Red Bull can rest on their laurels. ‘We need more performance to even come close to McLaren on other circuits,’ warns the driver.
Max Verstappen effortlessly converted his second starting position into a second-place finish in Montreal. The driver started the race behind rival George Russell, but the expected battle in the opening round did not materialize. As a result, Verstappen was able to score valuable World Championship points on Canadian soil. As championship leader Oscar Piastri finished behind the Dutchman, Verstappen gained six points on the Australian.
Still Work to be Done for Red Bull
The title fight is certainly not over yet, but Verstappen prefers not to get ahead of himself. “I hope we can start every weekend like this in terms of how I feel in the car. But overall, we need more performance from the car to be fast everywhere,” Verstappen explains in the press conference. The Red Bull driver believes his performance in Montreal was also better because McLaren was not as dominant as usual. “McLaren was not as strong as normal. We naturally took a bit of advantage from that.”
“But if we go to all the other circuits that are coming up, we definitely need more performance to even come close to McLaren,” adds the four-time world champion. “This was a good weekend for us, but we need many more to be able to compete with the McLarens throughout the season.” Verstappen also knows how his team can achieve that: “We need to make the car faster. That will also make things a bit easier for us.”
