Max Verstappen seeks more speed from his Red Bull despite retaking title lead

Verstappen back in the lead of the Drivers’ World Championship ahead of Lewis Hamilton but pace of Mercedes in Turkey worries Red Bull

Max Verstappen has urged Red Bull to find more speed from their car, warning his six-point advantage over title rival Lewis Hamilton « is nothing ».

Although Verstappen retook the lead of the championship with second place in Turkey, there was cause for concern for Red Bull as Mercedes secured a comfortable victory through Valtteri Bottas following Hamilton’s grid demotion.

« We need to find more pace because six points is nothing. I wish l had more pace. It’s going to be tough, » Verstappen told Sky Sports F1.

« In the last few races, they have picked up the pace. But we won’t give up and hopefully in some of the next tracks it will be better for us. »

Verstappen hasn’t won any of the last three races and added: « We need to step it up a bit to be in the fight until the end of the championship. »

While Red Bull spent their entire weekend in Istanbul striving to find balance in their car, Mercedes arguably produced their most dominant display of 2021.

They have been very quick this weekend, » acknowledged Red Bull chief Christian Horner. « The straight-line speed of Lewis was 15 to 20kmh up after the kink on the straight, which is phenomenal. We have got to find a bit of straight-line speed. Maybe they were running different downforce configurations but we have some speed to find. »

With just six races remaining this year, F1’s next stop will be in Austin, Texas in two weeks’ time.