MAX VERSTAPPEN Q&A
The Spanish Grand Prix was a difficult one, how do you feel looking back ?
I feel good about it, but as a Team it wasn’t the smoothest weekend, we definitely lacked pace throughout the race. It is what it is and we still secured second place and good points for the Team. It’s still early in the season so we just have to make sure that we keep pushing and applying the pressure and start winning some more races. We are always analysing and pushing ourselves to the maximum.
Where do you think we need to improve in order to challenge Mercedes ?
I think our tyre degradation but also the general pace of the car wasn’t good enough to really challenge Mercedes in Barcelona. I got ahead of Lewis in Turn 1 but if I hadn’t, he would have just driven off so leading the race for so long made it look tougher to lose out on the win. We just need to keep on improving.
Looking ahead to Monaco, how excited are you to race there again ?
The Monaco Grand Prix is always very special, it’s very different to other tracks, the circuit is very narrow but also amazing to drive over one lap in qualifying. You can really feel when you have got it all hooked up and the lap is going to be a good one - that makes you smile. I’ve never been on the podium in Monaco so I would like to change that ! We just need to have a clean weekend, I think that is very important. We’ll see if we are fast or not but so far in qualifying we have been quite close so I just hope it’s going to be the same in Monaco.
There is no margin for error in Monaco so how important is qualifying ?
I know very well that there is no margin for error in Monaco (laughs), we just have to make sure we nail it on Saturday. Of course then on Sunday it is usually straight forward as overtaking is so difficult but a lot of things can happen. We need to be at our best now on Saturday and Sunday to make sure we are on the top step of the podium.
SERGIO PEREZ Q&A
Spain proved to be a challenging weekend but fifth place on Sunday delivered solid points for the Team. How do you look back on it ?
It was a tough weekend and it was compromised by the poor performance on Saturday in qualifying, I wasn’t one hundred percent physically so I did struggle but I’m back to full fitness now. Looking ahead I’m getting more comfortable with the car so I hope we are able to show that in Monaco and put in a good performance on Saturday. I’m excited to race there especially as we weren’t able to last year.
You said you spent much of the race behind Daniel thinking about how to overtake him. Talk us through that.
It was aiming for the overtake in Turn 1, McLaren were very fast in a straight line so that obviously made things a bit harder for us. I finally managed to make the move but it was just too late in the race.
Looking ahead to Monaco, you finished on the podium there in 2016. What’s the goal this weekend ?
Historically Red Bull has been strong in Monaco so I hope we are able to fight for the win. You need a lot of confidence with the car there because the margin for error is so small. I’m feeling more confident with the car so I hope I am able to show that throughout the weekend. I’m also looking forward to seeing the fans, the atmosphere is so different without them.
With a championship battle this year, how important is development and continuing to push on the 2021 car from everyone back at the factory ?
It’s very important to maximise weekend after weekend. There are big challenges ahead and the season is very long so it requires everyone to be at one hundred percent to bring that championship home.