Red Bull and Max Verstappen had a strong showing in Singapore, qualifying in P2 on Saturday and managing to hold onto the position, despite an early overtake from Vettel.
Now, not many had expected Red Bull to compete for the win in Singapore, especially when Mercedes and Ferrari have been so dominant this season.
However, the team was able to dish out a performance strong enough to split Vettel and Hamilton on the day.
And the performance has given Verstappen lots to be happy about, so much so that, Verstappen feels Red Bull have the best car in Formula 1 as of now.
While the Renault engine might not be up to the mark, the Red Bull chassis is something that Verstappen is extremely proud of and feels that he Singapore result showed that Red Bull’s chassis is the best in the business.
“I think we have the best car in the field, as we found out in Singapore,” said Verstappen, as quoted by Motorsport.com.
“Of course we hope that next year with a new engine supplier it will continue in the right direction.
“We already have the right people on board, but the whole package is not yet right. That will also be difficult next year, but I hope we will have a real chance the following year.” he added.
Red Bull have decided to make the switch to Honda for 2019, a decision that Verstappen feels will help Red Bull march in the right direction.
The major reasons for Verstappen’s optimism is the kind of budget Honda has for engine development and the way they have been working in order to make things work for 2019.
“First of all because of the budget they have, which is many times bigger than that of our current engine supplier.
“Furthermore, they just go in the right direction, also in terms of test bench results. Moreover, they really, really want to win.
“We already have the mentality to want to win in the team. But now the other side – the engine – still has to be done and we will certainly get that next year.” he said.
Honda have been working tirelessly to get things right in Formula 1 after having endured multiple seasons of mediocrity with McLaren. The relationship had grown largely toxic, primarily because Honda were not able to make reliable engines, something that greatly hampered McLaren’s bid to regain supremacy.
However, as we found out this season, the entire problem wasn’t Honda’s, as McLaren struggled with reliability despite having made the switch to Renault.
Honda are on a mission to set things straight and the fire is likely to help Red Bull get back to the top of Formula 1.
