Verstappen thinks upgrade packages could shake up pecking order
Tuesday 11 December 2018 14:17, UK
Max Verstappen believes this weekend's Spanish GP could be "a defining moment for the season" for Red Bull as teams bring a raft of upgrades to Barcelona.
The first race of the European season, which is exclusively live on Sky Sports F1, sees the development race kick into gear with all 10 teams set to bring their largest updates of the season so far after the opening four flyaway races.
Red Bull's RB14 has shown encouraging performance in the opening grands prix - in certain conditions appearing to be arguably the fastest car on the grid - but two double retirements in Bahrain and Azerbaijan mean the team are third in the Constructors' Championship, 55 and 59 points behind Mercedes and Ferrari respectively.
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Verstappen thinks the success of the 'Big Three's' new parts could prove crucial to how the pecking order remains for the rest of the season.
"It could be quite a defining moment for the season," Verstappen said. "I'm interested to see how everyone will perform.
"I believe our car is very fast, we still need a bit more top speed but hopefully that will come."
Verstappen became the youngest-ever winner in F1 when he won at the Circuit de Catalunya on his Red Bull debut in 2016.
The Dutchman arrives in Barcelona in need of a clean weekend after a difficult start to the season that has left his championship ambitions hanging by a thread.
Following errors in Australia, Bahrain and China, Verstappen and team-mate Daniel Ricciardo took each other out in Azerbaijan as they battled for fourth and it has left the 20-year-old eighth in the Drivers' Championship, 52 points behind leader Lewis Hamilton.
Red Bull plan to continue to let their drivers race, after the pair apologised to staff after their Baku collision, and Verstappen is keen to get going again.
"I am of course also looking forward to the weekend as I have good memories from my first F1 win there and I will be happy to start the European season," Verstappen added.
"Everybody has done a lot of laps in Barcelona but I'm looking forward to seeing how the cars progress this year.
"We have many updates coming, hopefully they will be positive and we can be even closer to the front, but of course everybody else will also bring new parts."
