Reigning World Champion Max Verstappen is not expecting a “massive” gain for the Imola GP as Red Bull tries to close the gap to McLaren.
Max Verstappen is working close with this Red Bull team to catch up with Reigning Constructors Champions, McLaren. The Dutchman is 32 points behind current championship leader, Oscar Piastri. The four-time World Champion is ready to “hit the ground running” at the Imola GP.
Verstappen told the media ahead of the Imola GP, “I have been back at the factory with the team on the sim this week, which has been good. The team has been working really hard and we will need to hit the ground running.”
Historic race weekend
Verstappen notes the historic nature of the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari and the Dutchman needs to do to succeed at the Imola GP.
“Imola is a really old school and iconic track that is really technical and I always enjoy racing here. It is difficult to overtake so Qualifying will be key here.”
Red Bull has more to celebrate at this Imola GP with the team’s 400th race weekend. Verstappen is looking back as this moment and looking to “achieve more.”
“Imola marks the team’s 400th race this weekend; we have had a lot to be proud of over the years and smashed so many records, so it is great to be able to look at what team has built and, of course, for us keep pushing to achieve more.”
Finding performance
With Red Bull third in the Constructors’ Championship, Verstappen is trying to find “little bits of performance” to bring the team back up.
“I mean, we have been constantly upgrading the car, trying to find little bits of performance. This track is not suddenly where the magic happens, but of course we would like to be a little bit faster. At the moment, I don’t know how much that’s going to bring us, to be honest.”
Red Bull is bringing upgrades slowly, floor updates in Miami for example. However, Verstappen does not expect a “P1 car” with the RB-21’s changes for the Imola GP
Verstappen added, “I don’t know exactly how much performance they’re expecting to gain, but I don’t think it’s going to be massive. Unfortunately, I don’t think it will make [it] suddenly a P1 car. The difference we saw in Miami [to] McLaren is quite big.”
Tsunoda echoes Verstappen’s sentiments
Verstappen’s teammate Yuki Tsunoda sharing the same sentiment with the RB-21 seeing “how the car is going to behave.”
Tsunoda stated, “Still, for myself, I have a lot of work to do to close up the gap, and to understand the car 100%. I’m just going to focus on that area. At least it’s a good opportunity this weekend that I get a little bit closer car to Max, and see how the car is going to behave.”
This is Tsuoda’s fifth race with Red Bull after moving up from Racing Bulls before the Japanese GP. The Japanese driver is still trying to understand the RB-21 as he closes the gap to his teammate.
“Stepping into the new car from Suzuka, it’s still [only] the fifth race. My target… it’s not like a result, but I want to understand my car,” Tsunoda noted, “Even though it’s slowly, slowly increasing the pace, increasing the confidence, I’m quite happy with it.
“It’s better than nothing, I’m sure, and I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing. Hopefully I’ll be close as soon as possible to Max and help the team.”
