Max Verstappen Warns Red Bull About “Small Mistakes” Amidst Undecided Title Battle

Currently, Red Bull doesn’t have the colossal pace advantage it had over its rivals in 2023. With McLaren believed to be overtaking them on performance, Max Verstappen has warned his team about the small mistakes that could cost them their lead in the title battle with the Woking outfit.

“I think they did a great job. From our side, we still have to work a bit and analyze a few things during the break,” said Verstappen to Motorsport-Total.com.

https://t.co/wBvTAwTp6l [Ticker] – While McLaren denies having regularly had the fastest car recently, Max Verstappen says: “If you look at the last five or six races, they were definitely the best.”

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“There are still so many races and so many things that can happen. The battle for the title is by no means already decided. If you make small mistakes, things can change very quickly,” he says.

Verstappen’s words indeed carry objectivity, as Red Bull has failed to win a race since the Spanish Grand Prix. On the other hand, Mercedes have won two races after Spain with McLaren winning the last one in Hungary.

Therefore, the projections for the season ahead are worrisome for the Austrian outfit. Even Verstappen, who has a considerable lead of 76 points in the drivers’ standings, can’t sit comfortably till the season’s end as Lando Norris is gaining rapidly on him.

For him, the Belgian Grand Prix couldn’t have arrived at a worse time than this. The Dutchman is obligated to serve a 10-place grid penalty, and despite bagging pole, he has a colossal challenge ahead of him.

McLaren eyeing to slash Verstappen’s lead

Even though McLaren didn’t get pole, Verstappen admitted that the Woking team has enough pace to win. Even Charles Leclerc and George Russell reiterated his words during the weekend.

On the other hand, Verstappen is set to start the race from P11, where he would have to beat the likes of Fernando Alonso, Alex Albon, and Esteban Ocon before making a surge for the podium places. Thus, McLaren has a considerable advantage, with their drivers starting fourth and fifth.

Meanwhile, McLaren sacrificed its qualifying to bank on a lower downforce setup for race day. That is why, they were not able to match Red Bull’s pace in the wet conditions on Saturday. So, Norris and Piastri are believed to be among the favorites to pick the win.

Even the dry conditions on Sunday would tip the scales in McLaren’s favor, as Verstappen noted. However, irrespective of that, the Dutchman is still a strong candidate to win in Spa and extend his championship lead.

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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