‘A work in progress’ - Verstappen reveals Red Bull’s F1 shortcomings

Max Verstappen endured a somewhat lonely race at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix and labelled Red Bull a “work in progress” when commenting on what is currently holding the team back.

The four-time champion ended Sunday’s race in fourth place, over 40 seconds behind eventual winner Lewis Hamilton.

Verstappen spent a large part of the race away from the cameras, 17 seconds behind third-placed Lando Norris, and 18 seconds clear of Oscar Piastri.

Asked if the result was the best Red Bull could have achieved, he said: “Yeah, we were just a little bit off.

“The strategy, that was good. I had the right tyres, actually, because for me, the hard tyres didn’t feel good.”

Barcelona has traditionally been viewed as a track that exposes the true pecking order, with the track considered a more conventional layout than some of the earlier venues.

On whether the track had exposed Red Bull’s weaknesses, Verstappen said: “I think for sure that in high speed, that was [evident] even in qualifying. It’s just high-energy tracks, high-deg tracks, that’s just where we seem to lack still.”

He added: “I think in general, we’re just the fourth fastest team. It won’t change the outcome of any of the tracks unless we bring performance. Because we are not going to change it by just changing the setup.”

Ferrari brought a significant upgrade package to Spain, with Hamilton making the most of this to overcome the dominant Mercedes.

“That’s the season,” Verstappen assessed. “Whoever brings upgrades will make a jump. It just depends always who is bringing the biggest one.”

As for Red Bull’s position in the F1 pecking order, the Dutchman has a clear view of how things stand.

“It’s clear that I think we are still behind the Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren, because we finished behind each one of them,” he said.

“So we’re still P4 as a team. Maybe a little bit better, but still not where we want to be. But it’s a work in progress.”