Asked during his Thursday media duties if he thinks he will have a car to win again this season, having last triumphed in June’s Spanish Grand Prix, Verstappen replied: “At the moment we don’t, but there are a lot of different tracks coming up where hopefully we can do better.
“I don’t expect the weekends to be all the time like Zandvoort. I think for us it was just not a great weekend, we were just always a bit too slow and now it’s up to us to find a better balance in the car to be more competitive.
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“It’s [a] more difficult [period] than we would’ve liked, that’s for sure, but everyone is trying to stick together and improve it. We’re working very hard to find more performance again.
“A tough weekend is still P2, so that’s not too bad, but we want more – we want to win, or at least challenge for a win. In Zandvoort that was definitely not the case, but I’m confident that we can be more competitive than what we showed.”
Verstappen stressed the need for himself and Red Bull to “focus on ourselves” during the Italian Grand Prix, noting that the squad have “a few ideas to try” to get back on terms with McLaren and turn the tables on their rivals.