A forecast for cool weather is offering little hope of a repeat of Mercedes’ tyre woes at the Belgian Grand Prix.
For this weekend, Pirelli is bringing the same three compounds as last used in the 70th Anniversary GP at Silverstone, where heavy blistering on the W11 allowed Max Verstappen to claim victory.
But with temperatures in the Ardennes Forest set to be half of those seen in the past three races, the Red Bull driver is being realistic with his expectations.
“We kept saying we need heat, we need heat – well, we definitely got beaten in the heat in Barcelona,” Max, who finished 24 seconds behind Lewis Hamilton in Spain, said on Thursday.
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“Maybe we could have done things better, but a gap like that even with a bit of set-up work it’s not going to change.
“Maybe the tyres will help. I don’t know, it’s not going to be warm enough I think anyway.
“So yeah, it’s tricky, but I always like to be realistic. I don’t like to tell fairytales.
“It will be hard but I will try to of course be on the podium.”
Valtteri Bottas also cited the chilly forecast as he was coy on the topic of tyres.
“Again, it’s such a different track from the previous tracks where we had tyre issues, so it’s so difficult to predict,” the Mercedes driver commented.
“But with the softer compound, it’s maybe a bit more difficult to make it with one-stop, even though you can always try to qualify on the medium.
“I have no answer, I guess we’ll find out – at least temperatures are looking pretty cool, which is maybe not a bad thing for us.
“In any case I have no doubt Red Bull will be there in race pace, as they’ve been pretty good with the tyres no matter what’s the temperature, I’m sure they’re going to be a threat as well.”