Verstappen admits Red Bull still too far behind Mercedes and Ferrari

Max Verstappen reckons that Red Bull are closer to Mercedes and Ferrari that it may seem, but admits they they are still not close enough to challenge the top two teams for the German Grand Prix.

Red Bull have one victory to their name this season and it came courtesy of Verstappen, who put in a blistering performance to win the Austrian GP after overtaking Charles Leclerc on the last lap. That win came during extremely high temperatures on the track, and even though Hockenheim will be similar this weekend, he has played down their chances of repeating the feat.

“It was okay,” he replied when asked how his first day of practices went.

“We are not quick enough yet to fight with Ferrari and Mercedes. We are also not too far behind.”

The soaring temperatures means that tyre management is going to be key over the weekend, and Verstappen laments the fact he couldn’t get a clear run at a lap with the soft compound after he was forced to stop.

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“In FP2 I never really had a clean lap on the softest compound because I had to abort it,” he added.

“And around here, it is a one lap tyre.”

Ferrari in particular looked powerful on Friday as Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc posted the two fastest times, but Verstappen thinks the gap is deceiving.

“We are closer than it looks like at the moment,” he assured.

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