Verstappen identifies area Red Bull are ‘just not strong enough’ as he misses out on Belgian GP podium

Max Verstappen conceded “I never really felt I was in that fight” after trailing P3 finisher Charles Leclerc for the duration of the Belgian Grand Prix, as he went on to single out an area where Red Bull are "just not strong enough".

Following a dominant display in the Sprint with a low downforce set up, Verstappen and Red Bull piled on the downforce for the Grand Prix in anticipation of a wet race, giving away the straight line advantage that had proven pivotal on Saturday.

But with conditions deemed too wet, and visibility too poor, to race at the scheduled time, the Grand Prix began 80 minutes later, with drivers beginning to change to slick rubber after less than 10 racing laps – a scenario that did not suit Red Bull, as fourth-placed Verstappen chased Leclerc for the duration.

“On the inters, we were naturally a bit faster because of the set up that we had on the car,” said the Dutchman. “It was just very tough to pass. At one time, I was really close going into Eau Rouge, but you lose so much downforce when you are behind. The car becomes really unstable, so you couldn’t really keep it on the road.

“We went onto the slick tyres and to be honest, every lap, I just felt that Charles was pulling away a little bit. Then he had one mistake where I think he lost about one-and-a-half seconds. That’s why it looked like I was back in the fight, but realistically, I never really felt I was in that fight.

“Of course, I always try to get into the fight, but today, partly because of the rear wing that we chose because we hardly did any wet laps in the end which generally, I think is a shame. I think we could have gone racing.

“That’s not ideal but the biggest problem is still how we keep our tyres alive in the race. We’re just not strong enough on that.”

The Sprint marked the first time that Verstappen had topped the F1 podium in any race since the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in May.

Asked for an overall assessment of the weekend, he added: “It’s of course not where I want to be, but we are trying. Yesterday was a positive result for us, but it is not a realistic result, because we are way slower. But today, I tried.

“All in all, with the decision making and the set up that we chose with the wing didn’t help. But nevertheless, P3 was probably the maximum possible with the ideal scenario and, unfortunately, this didn’t happen today.”