Red Bull Racing’s Not Up To Winning Form This Year, Says Verstappen

Red Bull has gotten accustomed to winning. It fought its way to the top in just five years to secure four Formula One World Championships. And even in the years since being deposed by Mercedes, it’s still been landing on the podium – and even winning races.

That may not be the case this year, though. And that’s not just our opinion – it’s that of the team’s own racing driver, Max Verstappen.

Autosport reports that the team’s young prodigy told De Telegraaf in his native Netherlands that he doesn’t think that Red Bull is in a position to win this season. At least, not at the beginning.

“Personally, I don’t think we can fight for the win at the moment,” said Verstappen. “Much can change during the course of the season, but we are not good enough yet to win.”

Pre-season testing at Catalunya (where Vestappen won the Spanish Grand Prix last year) put Ferrari on top of the leaderboards, with Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel posting faster times than any of their rivals. Mercedes came second, followed by Williams, with Red Bull only in fourth.

Of course, the fastest lap times are not the ultimate objective of these test sessions. But Mercedes, Ferrari, and Williams also put in the greatest number of shakedown laps as well.

Things may change over the course of the season, as Verstappen suggests. But as it stands now, the battle looks to be gearing up between Mercedes and Ferrari, not Red Bull – with Williams potentially to emerge as the dark horse in 2017.