Max Verstappen rejects a claim that recent Red Bull upgrades have been solely designed around him.
Since Baku, teammate Sergio Perez has struggled to show the pace he had early on this season, something he puts down to the RB18 “going away from me” in terms of development.
It is well-known that the Mexican prefers a more understeery car setup compared to Verstappen, who likes a pointy front end.
However, the reigning champion says any shift in the characteristics of the Red Bull in his favour is purely based on the push for more performance.
“We always try to make the car faster and whatever they bring to the car you have to adapt to that and that’s certainly what I’ve been doing,” he stated.
“I mean, of course I say what I would like for my car in general, but the upgrades on the car are not specifically designed around me.
“It’s just more pace.”
While there have been recent gains, Verstappen concedes there is still room for improvement with the RB18 over a single lap, as those new parts have come at a cost.
“I think we are still a little bit… I would say not amazing in qualifying,” he said. “But that hasn’t only to do with just the car, we are still a bit heavy.
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“So, of course, when all the fuel comes out, that is just a limitation we have, so we still need to lose weight with the car, which we’re working on.
“But that’s why, I guess in the race, it’s a little bit less of an issue because first of all, you cannot push like in qualifying.
“So probably that helps a bit with the way we have the car and that weight issue with a full tank is a little bit less visible.”
The extra weight, which Auto Motor und Sport suggests could be 10kg or more above the minimum limit of 798kg, may also explain Red Bull’s higher tyre wear in Austria, giving Ferrari hope for the next two races too.