Red Bull "would be stupid" to switch focus from F1 title - Verstappen
Red Bull "would be stupid" to switch focus from F1 title - Verstappen
Max Verstappen has insisted it would be "stupid" for Red Bull to let up in the chase for F1 glory after storming into a healthy lead in order to focus on 2022.
The Dutchman took his third successive victory at last weekend's Austrian Grand Prix to open up a 32-point advantage over F1 title rival Lewis Hamilton as he looks for his first championship.
Asked by Sky Sports F1 whether he was reassured by Dr Helmut Marko's claim that attention would not switch to 2022 with the championship available, Verstappen said: "It was all about how competitive we would be at the beginning of the year.
"Of course, we were, so it would be stupid to just let it go. Nevertheless, I still have a lot of trust in next year but we focus on this year first to try and win it."
On whether Sergio Perez was the ideal team-mate to help achieve the title win, he added: "Yeah, I have a good relationship with Checo and it is going really well.
"We are leading the constructors' and I hope we can keep that up as well. We need both cars because all the time we try to be ahead of them [Mercedes]."
Verstappen 'will not relax' in quest for title
Verstappen's victory was Red Bull's fifth in a row, with rivals Mercedes struggling for form since winning the Spanish Grand Prix in May.
When asked if it was his championship to lose, Verstappen replied: "Both. It is both, from both ways.
"I have always said there are no guarantees and I will not just relax and sit back and think everything is great, everything is amazing because every time we have done a race we look at things we can improve and that is what we have to do the whole year and always try to improve the car.
"I look at myself as well at how I can improve and we need to just keep that approach in the team."
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F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
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