“It’s a bit more difficult now”: Max Verstappen shows concern in honest assessment of Red Bull’s current state

Max Verstappen is far from happy with Red Bull's current pace of development. The Red Bull challengers were not the fastest cars on the grid in the last couple of races, and Verstappen believes the current situation has become difficult for him and the team.

Verstappen drove two superior cars in 2022 and 2023, claiming 15 and 19 wins, respectively. He thus has a staggering 34 wins from 44 races. Red Bull in turn clinched 38 race wins, including Sergio Perez's two wins in each season.

While the victories kept coming, they were also equally dominant, which isn't the case in 2024. So far, Max Verstappen has claimed six wins out of the 10 races this season, but the Dutch driver and his team had to shell out everything to pick them up.

"Last year we had a hugely dominant season, even until the last race. It's a bit more difficult now and I think we just have to be honest about that," Verstappen said. "'We can say it's normal, but I think it's not normal. We always want to be better and that's why I bring it up. I can say we won and it's fine, but that's not how I stand."

"If we think this is normal, people are going to catch up with us. I am always very straightforward and critical because I always want to be better, which should also be the approach of everyone. I am very busy every day with the engineers. I try to push for faster upgrades and am allowed to be critical. If I say it's all fine and I see everyone again next Thursday, it won't go well for long," he added.

After two years of absolute dominance and practically no strong opposition, Red Bull in 2024 faces the challenges posed by Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes. The Prancing Horse have found their mojo back in 2024, something they lost in early 2022.

Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc picked up a win each this season, while Lando Norris of McLaren did his part in Miami. It was the British driver's first-ever GP win. Besides this, Mercedes, with their W15, made significant progress, as was visible with George Russell's pole position in Canada.

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Sergio Perez: 'Red Bull will be unbeatable if the current package is maximized'

While Max Verstappen worries about the current state of development at Red Bull, Sergio Perez is comparatively relaxed.

Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. Courtesy: Getty Images

The Mexican driver has full faith in the Milton Keynes-based squad and believes that the maximization of their current development package should be enough to stay ahead of the competition.

"I think [fine margins] look better for us if we can maximize our package. The season is still long, so we have to keep our heads down. Red Bull is very strong and it will be incredibly difficult for other teams to beat us during the season. That's because of the level we are operating in recent years."

Currently, Red Bull challengers are not the fastest cars on a one lap shootout. However, due to better straight-line speed and race pace, and massive DRS advantage, they are still a force to reckon with, which is something Perez also emphasized.

The Austrian team currently leads the Constructors' Championship with 330 points. Ferrari and McLaren are in P2, and P3 with 270 and 237 points, respectively.

Max Verstappen continues to lead the Drivers' Championship with 219 points while Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc are in P2 and P3, with 150, and 148 points, respectively.