Verstappen doesn't think Red Bull can win just yet

Red Bull's Max Verstappen has admitted that he isn't 100% convinced that the RB13 is ready to win just yet. The Milton Keyes based team had a quiet pre-season testing and never really set any spectacular pace.

It has been suggested that the team are sandbagging, but Verstappen doesn't think that the car is fully up to speed with Mercedes and Ferrari.

"We still have to wait and see how good we really are," Verstappen said to Dutch publisher De Telegraaf. "Personally, I don’t think we can fight for the win at the moment. Much can change during the course of the season, but we are not good enough yet to win."

"Clearly, Ferrari took a step forward from last year," the Dutchman continued.  "Mercedes will always be right there - I think they probably sandbagged a bit. It’s been that way for the last couple of years.

"For us, it is hard to tell where we are. Personally, I don’t think we are the best team yet, but we will have to wait and see."

Verstappen says that they will know after qualifying in Melbourne the true pace of their car, and they won't be going there with the objective for pole position and the win. 

"After qualifying in Australia, we will know our pure performance. We won’t be going there with the idea we can go for pole. At the moment, I think both Ferrari and Mercedes will be in front of us, but hopefully we will be able to get into a rhythm, just like last year. We can do better this year, but we need to work hard in order to get there."

Fergal Walsh