Verstappen ready for repechage: “Have ideas for next weekend” | Right away

Max Verstappen wants to wash away the bitter taste of his failure at the start of the Formula One season as soon as possible. He is looking forward to the repechage next weekend, when there will be another race at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria.

Verstappen knows there is still a long way to go with Mercedes. He finished third in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix on Saturday, half a second behind Valtteri Bottas (pole) and Lewis Hamilton.

“We definitely need to close that gap to beat it there, rather than our strategy,” Verstappen said on his own website on Wednesday. “Our speed is usually a bit better during the race than in qualifying, but there is still a lot of work to be done.”

According to the Dutchman, who failed early on Sunday morning with technical problems, work is going hard behind the scenes. “Our engineers are working on it. We have ideas and we know where to go next weekend, that’s a good thing.”


Max Verstappen had to stop the fight at the Austrian Grand Prix after only eleven laps. (Photo: Getty Images)

“Can be an advantage to ride on the same route”

As the Formula One calendar has been completely revamped by the Corona crisis, for the first time in history, the same track will take place for two weeks in a row. This will also happen next month at the Silverstone Tour in the UK.

Verstappen, winner of the Austrian Grand Prix for two years, certainly sees no disadvantage in this. “It’s a good opportunity to better understand the car. What wasn’t perfect last weekend, we can improve for next weekend.”

“Because we drive on the same route, we can make a direct comparison depending on the weather. And hopefully it’s going to get better now.”

Verstappen hopes for wet track

The weather in Austria seems to be getting more turbulent this weekend than last week. Rain is forecast for Saturday in particular.

“I don’t know if anyone knows how competitive they will be with these new cars on a wet track,” Verstappen said. “So that can be interesting. I always enjoy it in the rain, but to be fast, both the car and the driver have to be 100 percent.”

The race on the Red Bull Ring will take place on Sunday at 3.10 p.m. under the name Grand Prix of Styria. Friday are the first two free training sessions, Saturday follows the last free training and qualifying.