Max Verstappen is adamant that Red Bull has not reached a ceiling on development with its 2024 Formula 1 car as the threat from rival teams has continued to grow.
Verstappen appeared to be coasting to another dominant title-winning season with the latest ground effect cars as he was victorious in four of the opening five races.
But while Verstappen has continued to extend his points lead in recent months, Red Bull’s competitors have eradicated the gap to halt the Dutchman’s winning streak.
Alongside Ferrari and McLaren, Mercedes has emerged as a threat and successive victories mark the first time since 2022 Verstappen has gone winless in two races.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner has insisted since last season that convergence at the front was inevitable as the reigning champions encounter “diminishing returns”.
But having stressed that Red Bull should not treat being caught as “normal” last month, Verstappen is declining claims that its RB20 car has no scope to be improved.
Asked whether Red Bull was experiencing a limit on how much potential it can extract, Verstappen responded: “I refuse to believe so because then you get lazy.
“I’m confident that everyone within the factory, they’re always pushing flat-out to try and bring bits of performance to the car.
“But clearly there are a lot of smart people in the world in other teams that are also doing the same thing.”
Red Bull’s long-serving status as Constructors’ Championship leader has seen it be handicapped since mid-2022 with less aerodynamic testing time than the others.
However, Verstappen is not willing to use that as an excuse to explain Red Bull’s margin being slashed as he cites that each team understands that the rules in place.
“Naturally it [would] always help to have more time,” he acknowledged. “But that’s how the rules are to try and slow down the winning team.
“Honestly, when you are the ones chasing, you’re happy that it’s like that, and of course when you’re the ones leading and then you’re being caught up during the season, you naturally look at it like it’s not what you want. But that’s how the rules are written, everyone agreed with it and you just have to deal with it.”
Verstappen salvaged a second-place finish last weekend at Silverstone as a late charger on a drier track saw him recover from a difficult race under mixed conditions.
The three-time F1 champion is convinced that the changeable weather and the damage he sustained in qualifying disguised the potential from Red Bull’s revised floor.
“We can see the gain,” he said. “I think just this weekend has been a little bit hit-and-miss with just trying a few bits with the car. And then, of course, the weather doesn’t help.
“But when you look at it, if we wouldn’t have had damage to the floor we would have definitely been in the fight for pole. So that is a positive.
“We just need to keep pushing. We need to keep bringing bits, and I know they will come, and hopefully they will be a little bit better than the other upgrades of the other teams.”
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