Verstappen: Honda preparation with Red Bull 'so much better' than Renault

Max Verstappen

Verstappen: Honda preparation with Red Bull 'so much better' than Renault

Max makes it clear.

Paul Macdonald

Saturday 10 August 2019 10:29

Max Verstappen has stated his satisfaction with the current Red Bull-Honda relationship, making it clear he feels that the team preparation is 'so much better' than it was with predecessors Renault.

Red Bull and Renault ended their relationship at the start of the 2019 season and as the year has progressed the car has gotten better and better, with Verstappen picking up two victories.

But Verstappen thinks one of the key benefits has been the reliability of the car, and feels that the planning that goes into each race has been a huge factor in their excellent displays.

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He said: "We did have mechanical failures from the car and not the power unit last year, but they also came because we never had the reliability to test up to the limit.

"Honda is spending so much time on the dyno and then we also find out our limits from the parts on the car, so we never had that before.

"You never had an idea if your car was strong enough or not and you only found that out from retiring, so the whole preparation before you get into a season is so much better.

"The car and the power unit are very reliable."

Verstappen added that feedback in terms of performances is an open and democratic process, adding: "Everything is open, we fully work together and we try to help them, they try to help us in how to do things better, so we are fully committed to each other.

"They are winners, we are winners, we all want to win together, so we want to always get the best out of it."

Red Bull's constructor performance may have been even better were it not for the inconsistent displays of Pierre Gasly, but all Verstappen is focused on is closing the gap to Mercedes at the top.

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He stated: ""We just seem to execute the weekend better than them and bring the results back.

"But they are still very fast, some tracks a bit faster than other tracks - with longer straights of course they seem very dominant.

"It is still not very clear whether we are second or third. One thing is for sure, Mercedes is still ahead and that is what we have to target."