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Verstappen feels excelling in challenging situations will be key in F1 2020

16/02/2020

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen reckons excelling in challenging situations will key for them in the fight for the title in 2020 F1 season.

Challenges are one of few constants in the sport of F1, from lack of downforce, to poor engine power and reliability all being things which could, and likely will affect any given driver or team at some point in a long championship.

And, when such challenges are thrown at Red Bull, the Anglo-Austrian team’s driver Verstappen feels they will need to use teamwork to help them against their rivals Mercedes and Ferrari in the 2020 F1 season, when fighting for the title.

Verstappen previously spoke about how he and Alexander Albon will be able to build off each other, which could be a part of this. “Everything depends on the car in F1, but if you can put pressure on the driver in front of you, it is much harder for him.

“If everyone works together in challenging situations, such as in Brazil or Germany [in 2019], the team really excels compared to others. So I’m looking forward to when we can get involved in the fight and be there.

“If we are in that situation, I am pretty sure we can win. As a team we want to be able to take on the title battle. We want to perform well. Time will tell, because at the moment it is difficult to estimate where we stand compared to the competition.

“But of course we do everything we can to take that step forward. We are on the right track. One thing is clear, we really want to mount a challenge to Mercedes, and I think we can do that. We have to see what happens in winter testing.

“But the key thing is that everybody in the Team is fired up and everybody is incredibly motivated,” summed up Verstappen. Over the winter, the Dutchman also signed a new deal with Red Bull, which will keep him in the team until 2023.

Speaking on the new deal, Verstappen feels it was the only place for him looking at how Mercedes and Ferrari were playing out to be and signing an early deal was the right choice. “It takes away all doubts and there were no question marks,” he said.

“For me, Red Bull is the right place to be. I feel good on the team. There are many good people here and I also see everyone’s hunger and motivation to fight for victories and possibly the championship. In terms of performance, it is never 100% perfect.

“You will never have a season that goes perfectly, but you try to get as close to it as possible. We will do our best to do better in 2020. We want to be able to fight for the title. I hope we can go for the podium every year this year with an exciting on-track fight.”