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Red Bull sensation Max Verstappen has stated that he is being “realistic” over his 2021 title hopes, and that the aim is to make life “more difficult” for seven time world champions Mercedes.
The Dutchman, a 10 time race winner, is the firm favourite to challenge defending world champion Sir Lewis Hamilton but he is playing it cool, not wanting to rise to the hype.
“We don’t know yet, to be honest,” said Verstappen, speaking to Formula One. “I am always very realistic and it makes no sense to talk about stuff now. We have to go to Bahrain and look at it there, and at the first race, and see if we succeeded or not. We know where we want to be and where we want to get to and that’s what we now need to try and realise,”
“I just don’t want to hype things up,” he added. “I want to stay low key and focus on our job. We should do the talking on the track, not next to the track. That’s what I prefer.”
Verstappen and new team mate Sergio Perez, who joined the team from Racing Point, took their new RB16B for a spin at Silverstone for the pre-season shakedown on Wednesday.
“Driving a new car is always special – for the driver and also for the team,” said Perez. “They have been working so hard through the winter, so to finally take the car on track, it’s quite an emotional day. I can say I think there is a lot of potential. The conditions were not great but it was nice to get a feeling for the car. It’s pretty exciting. Earlier this week I drove the RB15 but today I could feel a step in overall grip and top speed.”
“It’s always good to be back driving a Formula One car and the first time you go out of the pits is such a great feeling,” added Verstappen. “Days like today are all about getting comfortable with the car and with the new power unit, trying to make things run smoothly and trying to be well prepared before we go testing in Bahrain.”
The car launch on Tuesday was very low key for Red Bull, and the Milton Keynes outfit have been giving very little away. However, it seems that they are targeting a better start this year, to enable them a better chance to challenge Mercedes. They must deliver from the first race, and be consistent throughout the season if they have any chance of putting the pressure on the Silver Arrows.
Image Credit: Red Bull Racing
Source: formulaone.com