Max Verstappen calls on Red Bull "to do better" in face of Mercedes resurgence

United States Grand Prix

Verstappen calls on Red Bull "to do better" in face of Mercedes resurgence

Dutch driver holds just a six-point lead over Lewis Hamilton

Ian Parkes

Friday 22 October 2021 09:29

Max Verstappen has urged Red Bull "to do better" if it is to take the fight to Mercedes over the final six races of a captivating F1 season.

Mercedes has found performance in recent races to stretch its advantage over Red Bull in the constructors' championship to 36 points ahead of another of its favoured circuits this weekend in Austin that hosts the United States Grand Prix.

Verstappen at least managed to secure major results in the last two races in Russia and Turkey, where Mercedes was clearly faster, by finishing runner-up in each event, the former all the more remarkable after starting from last on the grid due to serving penalties for a change of power unit.

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But the Dutch driver knows he requires Red Bull to show improvement of its own if he is to keep Lewis Hamilton at bay as he holds just a six-point cushion going into grand prix at the Circuit of the Americas.

Suggested to Verstappen that after his strong result in Turkey he was again on a roll, he replied: "Not really.

"It was all right but we still have a bit of work to do. We want to be faster. The team result was good in Turkey but the overall performance wasn't amazing in Turkey.

"We will try again here and see how good we are."

Although conceding to being unconcerned by Mercedes' performance improvement, he added: "There is nothing we can do about it.

"We just have to focus on our side and see if there are things we can do better. We learned a lot again in Turkey and we try to do better with our package and what we have, try to find a bit more performance."

Acknowledging Mercedes' new-found pace is real and it has found a step, he said: "Yes, of course they did but as I said, we can't really do anything about that. We have to focus on ourselves."