Verstappen ‘not concerned’ by deficit to Mercedes after Australia comeback drive

Max Verstappen has admitted that worrying about the competitive gap to Mercedes is “not going to change anything” after he charged to P6 from a P20 start in the Australian Grand Prix.

On the rare occasion that the Red Bull driver qualifies towards the back of the grid, he typically manages to return to the points as the bare minimum, something which he repeated at Albert Park as he gained 14 positions through the race.

He was knocked out in Q1 following a massive crash that saw him end up in the barriers before he could set a flying lap, prompting Red Bull to put him on hard tyres and elongate his first race stint.

Taking eight points in the action-packed race could be considered an achievement, but Verstappen crossed the line 54.617s behind winner George Russell, demonstrating a significant gap to Mercedes.

Asked whether he was worried about how large the Silver Arrows’ early advantage is, he responded: “I can be concerned about it but it’s not going to change anything, right? I’m not concerned about it.

“We just work as a team to try and close that gap and step by step, hopefully we can be more competitive.”

Verstappen added that the race felt “okay” as he became Red Bull’s sole finisher – after starting in an impressive P3, his team mate Isack Hadjar was forced to retire from the race with smoke billowing from the car.

While a larger haul of points could have been on the table for the team, the Dutchman searched for the positives after learning plenty about the behaviour of the new cars, including how to pass those in front.

“Of course, we have quite a bit more pace than the midfield so I just needed to clear that cleanly, which I did,” Verstappen said. “I learned a lot also in the battles and how to use the battery and stuff so that was quite a positive thing.

“At one point I was quite by myself, just settling in. I think the two hard compounds today didn’t really work for us so a lot of degradation, a lot of graining, and that made me then of course do a two-stop.”