Max Verstappen doesn’t expect Red Bull to hold the same advantage as it did across earlier races in the 2024 Formula 1 season at this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix.
Red Bull’s dominance under the current ground effect regulations continued into this campaign as Verstappen stormed to four victories from the opening five rounds.
However, a combination of its rivals eradicating the deficit through upgrades and Red Bull’s weakness riding kerbs being exposed has seen more intense competition.
Verstappen was beaten in Miami and Monaco as McLaren and Ferrari emerged triumphant, while the reigning F1 champion was pushed hard at Imola and in Canada.
But Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes’ George Russell have tipped Red Bull to return to being the benchmark with the return to a conventional track in Barcelona.
Verstappen, though, has quashed speculation that he could be in line to replicate the crushing winning margins that he was recording in the nascent rounds this term.
“I don’t think of course it will be like the beginning of the season, but we know that normally this is a track that our car should suit a bit more, and we’re excited,” he said.
“I’m aware that everyone has been catching up a lot, so everyone I think is quite confident.
“But if you compare this to like the last few races that we have done, this should be a better track for us.
Ferrari has accelerated a seismic upgrade package to Barcelona and Red Bull is set to introduce some parts, but Verstappen has warned that doesn’t guarantee gains.
Asked how big the gap could be in his mind, Verstappen replied: “It’s difficult to say, I mean, you know, people are constantly improving and sometimes you just have a better weekend than others with the way you set up the car, because at the end of the day you can bring upgrades, but if you don’t put the right set-up on the car, I mean, look at F2, right?
“Same car, but there’s still a big difference in teams and operation and such, so also there you can make mistakes.
“And yeah, that’s what we need to get right, normally, like I said, naturally this car should suit the track a bit better, but still we need to make sure that it’s in the right balance window.”
With Verstappen’s FP1 in Canada having been compromised with an electrical fault on his engine, the Dutchman has stressed the need to have a smoother weekend.
“Not only the setup, we had a few other issues as well, that prevented us from having a clean weekend,” he explained.
“Naturally, I think the last few tracks that we went to, bumps, kerbs, you know that our car doesn’t like that so much, so hopefully it will be a little bit more straightforward.”
But Verstappen anticipates another tight battle with McLaren, which has accrued more points than the rest in the past three rounds, and also Ferrari and Mercedes.
“But I don’t expect an easy weekend, because I think McLaren, for example, they’ve been quick everywhere and I feel like they’re going to be quick here as well,” he added.
“And with Mercedes and Ferrari, they seem like lately they’ve also really made some good steps forward. So for sure, when you can be quick in Monaco and Montreal, when you don’t have any kind of issues with kerbs anyway, and you still have quite good performance at high speed, then you should also be quite decent here.”
