Max Verstappen believes that a competitive car at the start of the season is key to his chances of competing for the 2019 Formula 1 title.
Expectations are high that Red Bull’s decision to use the improving Honda engines this year could allow the Dutchman to join Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton and create a three-way fight at least, for the championship.
However, traditionally, the Milton Keynes-based outfit is usually at their weakest in the opening races and Verstappen fears a repeat of that trend could leave him with too many points to catch up.
“We need to make sure that from the start we are a little bit closer so we can actually start fighting with them a bit sooner,” he was quoted by GPFans.com.
“It seems like we keep our car progressing in a good way throughout the season, which helped us out at the end of last season and also the season before.
“We just need to be [competitive] a little bit sooner than at the end of the season.”
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The upcoming pre-season tests in Barcelona might offer an insight into whether the Red Bull-Honda partnership can be successful immediately.
However, former F1 driver turned pundit Robert Doornbos believes Verstappen’s emotions might be the biggest signal to follow.
“Max will know immediately how successful the new car can be, so I’ll be curious to see his face after a couple of laps behind the wheel,” he told Ziggo Sport.
“If he is disappointed straight away, Max will not hide it. He’ll immediately be punching the table with his fist.”
The fellow Dutchman also expects the performance of the Honda unit to be the critical factor in Verstappen’s championship chances.
“Last year, the car was one of the best on the grid, if not the best,” he claimed. “It’s important that the Honda engine is reliable and not inferior to Ferrari and Mercedes.
“If it is good enough, Max will get good results, because last year his engine was down 70hp.”