"No guarantee" Red Bull will be competitive in 2021 - Verstappen

Max Verstappen has warned that Red Bull has "no guarantee" of competitiveness in 2021 despite its winning end to the past campaign.

The team will carry over the majority of the RB16 into next year knowing it should be able to challenge Mercedes following a welcome victory from Verstappen in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

But when asked whether the team missed opportunities to battle Mercedes in 2020, Verstappen replied: "Yeah, maybe a few but it wouldn't have mattered a lot, we wouldn't have won the championship.

"But of course, there are always moments we could have maybe gotten on top but at the end, still, as a team, we did a good job recovering from the beginning of the year where we had some issues with the car to where we ended the season.

"There is no guarantee of course, that we will do well next year and for sure there are still a lot of areas we have to improve in."

Verstappen will be joined by Sergio Perez next season after the Mexican signed a one-year deal with the team.

The Dutchman is hoping the added experience from Perez's recruitment will help to take the fight to Mercedes in the last year of the current formula.

"[Perez] had a great season," added Verstappen. "He did a really good job with the car.

"He brings a bit more experience to the team and I'm excited to work together [with him]. He's a nice guy, so I'm sure we'll get along very well. I hope with the two cars we can make it a bit more difficult for Mercedes next year."

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