Verstappen emerged as the favourite driver among fans in a survey conducted for F1 by the statistic company Nielsen. (Photo from Red Bull Website) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] Max Verstappen admits his Red Bull team needs to find more pace as they seek to beat Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes to the Formula 1 title. BBC Sports reported that Verstappen leads Hamilton by six points before this weekend's US Grand Prix but Mercedes has made a marked step forward in recent races.
Verstappen, 24, said: "We know we still have a bit of work to do. Verstappen has led the championship for much of the season but has not won or qualified fastest since the Dutch Grand Prix at the beginning of September, four races ago. Verstappen added: "We learned a lot in Turkey and we try to do better with our package. We have to focus on ourselves."
By contrast, Mercedes has been on pole for two of the last three races and the team has won the last two, with Hamilton victorious in Russia and team-mate Valtteri Bottas last time out in Turkey. Across all metrics, there’s a clear trend showing Mercedes has begun to eke out a small performance advantage since they introduced an update package to their car at the British Grand Prix in July. The US Grand Prix is held at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, where Hamilton has had considerable success in recent years, winning five of the eight races at the track, which he counts as one of his favorites.