Max Verstappen believed the “tragic” power deficit Red Bull faced to Mercedes and Ferrari was comparable to Formula 1 vs Formula 2 at the British Grand Prix on Sunday.
The Dutchman, along with teammate Daniel Ricciardo, faced a private battle for fifth at Silverstone, this despite Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen colliding on Lap 1 and both dropping down the field.
Such was the speed difference down the straights though, both would easily their make way back through with Safety Cars working in Lewis’ favour while Verstappen ultimately failed to keep Kimi at bay.
“It was tragic. On the straights it’s like you are driving in a different series,” he claimed to Dutch TV afterwards.
“I had to manage the tyres the whole way through the race but we were super-slow on the straights anyway, which was just a huge drama.
“I tried to do a one-stop. In the end, I was lucky that there was a Safety Car because that wasn’t going to work.
“After the first Safety Car I made that move on Kimi, which was nice, but it’s just incredibly frustrating how much we are lacking on the straights. It’s a real bummer.”
Eventually, Verstappen’s race would be ended a few laps short with what appears to be a brake-by-wire problem as his Red Bull spun suddenly under braking for the Vale chicane.
“We damaged the clutch from that point and therefore the car ended up stuck in gear. A shame because he’d driven a hard race,” team boss Christian Horner added.
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As for Ricciardo, he had a largely uneventful race, as his second pit-stop came just two laps before the first Safety car, and a late attempt to pass the struggling Bottas also came to nothing.
“We didn’t have the legs,” he stated. “I could get close, get within a distance but then couldn’t get any closer.
“It started to kill my tyres getting close to him, the grip we had to catch him didn’t stay once we got close.
“It was a bit tricky to follow and if we don’t get the exit on the corner they’ve got quite a few ponies.”
