Max Verstappen has stated that Red Bull needs to improve its race pace for the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix, despite taking victory in the Sprint Race.
Verstappen retained his lead from the start at the Circuit of the Americas, with both McLarens retiring after contact caused by Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber.
The Dutchman was briefly engaged in battle with Mercedes’ George Russell, but was able to easily take victory in the end to gain eight points in the title race.
But Verstappen believes that there is far more room for improvement needed to give him a better chance of fighting for victory in Sunday’s Grand Prix.
“It was OK,” he told media including Motorsport Week. “I mean, the start was good, but then I think the overall pace throughout the race, I expected it to be a little bit better.
“So that’s something that we need to work on, especially if the McLarens are not out on that one tomorrow.
“I do think that if they would have raced today, it would have been very tough to keep them behind. So that is something that, yeah, for tomorrow we need to work on.
“But nevertheless, I mean, I take it, we take the points. It’s positive. And now we just need to look ahead, you know, how we can improve a little bit the pace.”
“Yeah, just a bit more grip, better feeling on the balance of the car. Over one lap, it felt OK but in the race, I felt like we were probably degging a bit too much.
“Like I said, we didn’t have a proper reference against the McLarens, but for sure they would have been faster than I think I was now in the Sprint. So yeah, just thinking ahead.
Verstappen makes Turn 1 observations after McLaren clash in US GP Sprint
Verstappen’s task was made undeniably easier by the double McLaren DNF, which triggered a chaotic bottleneck at Turn 1 with several drivers suffering damage.
Observing the difference between the start of this race and the previous in Singapore, Verstappen said that he was intending to take a conservative line into Turn 1 by staying in the middle of the track, after getting a good enough start to not have to defend himself from either Norris or Piastri.
“Yeah, the start was good. I mean, I looked in my mirror and I could see immediately that I didn’t really need to defend,” he recalled.
“So it was more about driving a bit in the middle because Turn 1 is very wide. I just tried to do my normal line, normal corner.
“And then, of course, I looked again in the mirror and suddenly there were some cars turned around.
“It’s that type of corner in the start. You can also gain a lot of positions if you do it well. But at the same time, yeah, it’s a risky corner to try and get positions at the same time.
“But it seems like the tarmac, at least, is a bit more consistent left to right. Singapore was very tough if you would start on the inside.
“I think with that tarmac that has been later, two years ago, I think, that helps a bit to make it a bit more fair between left and right.”
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