Max Verstappen admits former Red Bull supplier Renault deserve much of the credit for his recent success in Mexico.
The Dutchman has won the past two years at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, where the high altitude often sees engine performance level out among the four manufacturers.
While that meant Red Bull’s chassis was able to make the difference, Max acknowledges how the French manufacturer coped with the unique environment was critical too.
“The car always had good mechanical grip,” he was quoted by RaceFans on Thursday. “And actually, being very positive, I think the Renault engine was always quite decent here. You also have to give credit to when it’s working.”
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It is for that reason then that Verstappen is a little more cautious when assessing his chances of a third straight win.
“This year honestly from the Honda side we don’t know yet how competitive it’s going to be,” he said. “Let’s see in practice.”
Early indications are quite positive thinking back to Honda’s performance in Austria, on a very hot day high up in the Styrian hills.
However, the one thing Verstappen does know for sure is Ferrari will be mighty on the straights.
“I think this year will be a little bit more difficult because, in comparison to Ferrari and Mercedes, this year we are not maybe that far ahead with the car and Ferrari is just super quick on the straight,” he said. “So it’s very hard to go gain that time back in the corners, especially in qualifying.
“In the race they don’t have that amount of power difference. Still, there is a difference, but not that big. So maybe in the race, we’ll have a few more chances.
“But also we have to see how the tyres are going to behave because last year there was, of course, big issues with the graining. So you couldn’t really push flat out throughout the whole race. This year, I think the tyres are a bit harder so hopefully, that will help.”