“There are three options”- Max Verstappen claims that there could be these possible outcomes for this season after pre-season testing.
Max Verstappen has been everything this fall, but not an optimist. Despite a powerful outing by Red Bull this season, he doesn’t believe Mercedes will yield so easily.
He has drawn three possibilities for this season, as Mercedes has shown glaring weaknesses, but it isn’t sure whether they are sandbagging or really having issues.
“There are three options,” Verstappen told Ziggo Sport. “Either your car is heavily dominant, and it is only between you and your teammate. The second option is that we are very close to Mercedes, and it will be a nice battle every race.
“And then you have the third option, which is like last year. That you are close to it, but just not close enough, and so you can sometimes compete for a race win.”
Of course, they are playing claims Max Verstappen.
The Dutchman isn’t ready to believe any “games” played by Mercedes and understands that Mercedes is trying to project Red Bull as favourites, but that is not the case.
“Of course, they try to place us in that favourite role because things didn’t go as well,” Verstappen added. “If they succeed again, then that will all be ‘fantastic’.”
“They did that a few times last year after the Friday training sessions – shouting that Red Bull looks strong. But deep down, they already knew that this was not the case, and they just stood there again on Saturday afternoon.
“I don’t see myself as the title favourite at all either. When you are so dominant over the last seven years, and even with these rule changes, you are still good even with the worst floor. So I still see Mercedes as the favourite.”
