Max Verstappen believes it is “difficult to say” Ferrari is helping him towards his second Formula 1 championship.
The Dutchman enjoys an 80-point lead in the standings ahead of this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix after winning seven of the past 10 races.
Four of those victories though have come after mechanical, strategic or driver errors from Ferrari and Charles Leclerc, and in total, mistakes and problems have cost the Monegasque over 100 points so far.
Even so, Verstappen doesn’t think his big lead in the championship can be attributed to missteps from his opposition.
“I think everyone always tries to do their best and sometimes that’s of course a bit harder to achieve,” he said via Motorsport Week.
“I find that difficult to comment [on] because nobody does things on purpose and everyone always wants of course to try and get the best result out of it.
“And from my side as well, I always try to get the best result out of it and the team as well. Sometimes you do that better than other weekends.
“And we also dropped quite a few points as well from our side by having issues but yeah, I find that difficult to say that they helped me because at the end of the day you always have to perform yourself and as a team.”
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Looking ahead to the final nine races, and given his 80-point advantage, Verstappen was also asked if he plans to be more conservative after the summer break.
“Not really,” he said. “I think as a team we still want to win more races and that’s what we’ll definitely try to do after the break.”
The Red Bull driver is also welcoming the prospect of Mercedes making it a three-team battle at the front going forward.
“No, it’s good that they are competitive,” Verstappen told reporters in Hungary on if he was concerned by the improving Silver Arrows.
“Because then, they can steal more points off Ferrari! So I’m very happy. They’re doing very well.”
