168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Max Verstappen believes Red Bull will still be playing catch up to McLaren at this weekend’s F1 Chinese Grand Prix.

The reigning world champion was happy to settle for second place and less than a second behind 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Lando Norris in a chaotic and wet season-opening Australiaꦑn Grand Prix.

But Verstappen expects McLaren to hold the advantage once more in Sꦿhanghai, ❀admitting they are currently “quite far ahead”.

“They're super strong,” the Dutchman said on Thursday. “I mean, I have a lot of respect for what they have done. You know, already last year and now🍌 they're very fast. Yeah, very all-round, good everywhere.

“So I think that is just a fact. Now how big the gap is or whatever is difficult to say. I think th🎃e clear picture that you saw was that McLaren was quite far ahead. Because I don't think I'm an idiot in the wet, but in the first stint I didn't really have a lot of chance to fight.

“I think in general we just n💞eed to be better as a whoꦅle; if you compare that to McLaren, they're good everywhere.

“It's impossible to really answer fu▨lly. I think myself👍, so Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari were all quite close. And probably will differ a bit track to track.”

Verstappen doesn’t buy Norris’s McLaren comments

Ahead of the weekend, Norris opened up on how the McLaren remains “ﷺdifficult to drive” despite his convincing victory last time out in Australia.

The Briton in🌠sisted the MCL39 does not suit his driv💞ing style “at all”.

“I think in general some of the traits are the same [as last year’s car],” Norris explained. “It still doesn’t suit🔜 at all my driving style. I’ve got to a point where I’ve just accepted that you can’t have a car that suits your driving style – maybe it does suit some people’s.

“I kind of got to a point where I stopped maybe asking so much for what I want and [I’m] more just willing to do whatever makes the car quicker. It is probably a tricky car to drive and put together laps, but clearly it’s taken a step forwar🗹d to last year.

“It’s my job to drive whatever car I get given, at the end♏ of the day – that’s why I’m here, that’s why McLaren want me because they believe I can drive it in a better way than others can. [It’s] half and half, it’s similar characteristics and some of those characteristics I don’t like and do not suit the way I want to drive in an attacking way.

“I💮t’s something I got used to, so I got to a point where I’ll just drive whatever car I have to drive – as long as it’s fighting for a win and quick enough to fight for a win, then I’m happy to drive what I get given."

But Verstappen, who experienced his own car struggles on his way to a fourth sꦺtraight F1 world title last year, is not convinced by Norris’s comments.

“His owဣn McLaren? Maybe he was joking,” Verstappen responde⭕d when informed of Norris’s comments.

“I don't want to compare scenario😼s. For sure, last year, when we started, I was already complaining that some bits꧋ were not to my liking, but we were still winning.”