Max Verstappen believes it is Red Bull who is still “chasing” Ferrari despite their advantage in the championship.
This season has ebbed and flowed so far, as Charles Leclerc stormed into an early lead before the reigning world champion responded with five wins in six races to open up a near 50-point margin over the rest.
Currently, Ferrari has the momentum after back-to-back wins, while Leclerc has reduced the gap to Verstappen to 38 points at the halfway point.
And the Dutchman feels recent results are more reflective of the true performance of the respective teams.
“In general, I felt like at the beginning of the year we were the ones like chasing and trying to beat Ferrari,” he said on Thursday.
“Then they had a few retirements and we of course took advantage of that, or through strategy calls.
“So I think overall, we, from my feeling, [are] still [doing] a bit of chasing.”
Verstappen further made his case by pointing to the types of victories Ferrari has had compared to Red Bull.
“Of course, it depends a bit on the tracks, but overall, I feel they had more dominant weekends than we [did],” he added.
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“After Melbourne, I thought if there is a possibility, we might be able to fight towards the end of the season back for a potential chance.
“Then I mean it really quickly turned around, but that also shows that it can go the other way very quickly, so we just always have to be on it. We cannot make mistakes.”
Indeed, Red Bull is currently working flat out to bring upgrades to the RB18, including more new parts this weekend at Paul Ricard.
And Verstappen thinks that kind of mentality is what the team needs to maintain to be successful.
“We still need to bring updates to the car and we need to work all the time, and it’s no guarantee,” he said.
Across the line ? And into the weekend ? pic.twitter.com/Prq9zoJqDA
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) July 15, 2022
“People say Red Bull has been really good in the past and bringing upgrades and development. But this year we have to show it again, because every year if you start thinking like that, then normally you fall behind because you think you are that good.
“We always have to show that we are good at it and that’s what we are trying to do.”