Max Verstappen claims Red Bull needs to find ‘more speed to become world champion’

Max Verstappen and Red Bull are currently leading both the world championships.

Max Verstappen claims Red Bull needs to find ‘more speed to become world champion’

Max Verstappen (via IMAGO)

Max Verstappen, the reigning world champion, did not have the smoothest outings during the recent Spanish GP qualifying session. He fell short against an ultra-impressive Lando Norris and in light of this, the 26-year-old has asked Red Bull to find more pace in the RB20 to have a crack at the world title.

The Red Bull F1 team has downright annihilated its competition since the start of the ground-effect era. However, during the ongoing campaign, the rival outfits caught up, making the task of the Austrian outfit a lot more difficult.

After the Barcelona qualifying session, Max Verstappen indirectly acknowledged this fact and urged his team to find more pace!

At the end of the day, we have to find more speed to become champion. If you have to drive at 101 percent every time as a driver, things are going to go wrong at some point.
Max Verstappen via De Telegraaf

Looking at the reaction of the three-time world champion, it is quite clear that it is high time for Christian Horner and Co. to start finding extra performance from the RB20. Red Bull has already lost out on three Grand Prix out of the nine that have taken place so far this year.

Sergio Perez hopes to ‘fight back’ during the Spanish GP

While Verstappen has asked Red Bull to find more pace to have a shot at the world championship, his teammate, Sergio Perez, had yet another disappointing outing in qualifying. He was only able to manage a P8 finish.

Sergio Perez
Sergio Perez (via IMAGO)

Moreover, his three-place grid penalty has pushed him further down the grid to P11.

We couldn’t find the right balance all weekend and with the penalty, we’re starting out of the points. Let’s go for a great race tomorrow. Fight back!
Sergio Perez via X

Keeping in view the lackluster form of Perez since the last few races, it is highly unlikely that he would be able to score a podium in the upcoming races. Thus, the onus will again be on Verstappen to fight on his own in the battle at the front against the lights of Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton. The good thing for Verstappen going into the race is that the RB20 has so far looked good in long runs as compared to rival outfits.

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