Verstappen hoping for Ferrari and Mercedes errors

Max Verstappen has confessed that Red Bull do not have the pace to overtake Mercedes and Ferrari towards the front of the grid in the Belgian Grand Prix unless Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel within their respective teams make a mistake or perhaps suffer a mechanical issue.

Following a disappointing qualifying session on Saturday afternoon, Verstappen and his team-mate, Daniel Ricciardo, eventually finished with P7 and P8 starting places for Spa after struggling with their tactics in the wet weather.

Red Bull opted to finish as quickly as possible as they expected the conditions to worsen. However, neither driver had enough fuel left in the tank to record another lap - just as the surface began to dry.

“We didn’t have enough fuel in the car, so we had to come in. Unfortunately, there was also not enough time to refuel.” Verstappen admitted.

“We had expected that the rain would intensify, that’s why we wanted to get back on track as fast as possible in Q3 to get a time on the clock. At that moment, it was the right call, it’s only a pity it stopped raining.”

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“We have a reasonable top speed, but not enough to take it to Mercedes and Ferrari. I will need to overtake some, definitely the Haas and Force India’s. Of course, they will be quick on the straight, but we have set the car up to be able to overtake.

The Dutchman reckons that he can comfortably overtake the Haas and Force India drivers ahead of him, but in order to get the better of Ferrari or Mercedes from so far back he thinks he will need those teams to suffer some bad luck or make a mistake.

“Then something ahead of us needs to happen, because Mercedes and Ferrari are too quick in front of us. Of course, I am going to try to be in a position that, should anything happen, I can grab my chances.”