Despite a wretched year in terms of results, Max Verstappen believes the pace advantage and record he has against Daniel Ricciardo in qualifying this season proves he is the faster of the Red Bull drivers.
The Dutchman has failed to finish half of the Grands Prix so far in 2017 through mechanical issues and first corner collisions for which he as not at fault and it is true that he leads the Australian 10-4 in the Saturday battle.
Yet Ricciardo’s performance in the race, like at Silverstone and Monza, have him ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in fourth in the Drivers’ standings and still lead many to think that while Verstappen may have the raw speed, the pair would be evenly matched if they went head-to-head over a season without the reliability and other problems Max has had.
“What can I do?” the teenager, who turns 20 on Saturday told Auto Motor und Sport referring to his difficulties this season. “I just have to see the positives of the season, which is qualifying. The speed is there. Even in the race, I was always in good positions before I failed.”
Some have questioned whether his aggressive driving style has had any bearing on the reliability problems to which he responded: “My approach is right, so why should I change something? I am fast.
“We can see from the telemetry that I don’t do anything wrong or different to Daniel. It’s just funny that the problems on race day are always on my car.”
Returning to his single-lap pace, Verstappen admitted he was proud of his performance against a driver who has long been considered one of the best on the grid in qualifying.
“He is very fast. But I am faster this year by three or four tenths on average. That’s a lot of time,” he revealed. “I am very self-confident, I am also honest and straightforward — I do not lie. The only thing I want is a winning car.”
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Interestingly, his comments about Ricciardo also come as both drivers are likely to be involved in next year’s driver market, particularly if the Milton Keynes outfit continues to fall short and also with concerns over future engine supply.
“To be honest I don’t want to look too much in the future. I just want to focus on the job I am doing now and try to finish it off in a good way this season,” Max commented in the press conference on Thursday, downplaying talk of an exit.
“For next season I know where I am and before we finish next season is still such a long time. We just have to wait.”
As for his ambitions in 2018, he replied: “At least that we can fight for the championship. If you win one race and you win the championship that’s fine for me but it’s a bit difficult to say as we are not in that position.
“Hopefully, we are next year, but it’s a bit too early to say. So we’ll just have to wait and see until we go to Melbourne.”
