Verstappen: I’m waiting for full package at Red Bull

Max Verstappen says he’s confident in Red Bull producing a car able to fight for wins at every Formula 1 race after taking a much-needed podium at the Canadian Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver began the race weekend under intense media scrutiny after suffering six high-profile incidents at the past six races while his most recent issue, crashing out of FP3 and missing qualifying, potentially cost him a victory and huge points in Monaco.

Despite topping all three free practice sessions in the build-up to the Canadian race, Verstappen couldn’t improve upon his qualifying position in the race and had to settle for the final step on the rostrum behind winner Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas in second place.

In Canada Red Bull enjoyed a boost from a new specification of Renault engine and while Verstappen is still calling for more top speed grunt to challenge Ferrari and Mercedes he believes the team will deliver a regular contender for race victories soon.

“We have a great car, we’re just waiting for the full package to be able to challenge every single weekend for victories,” Verstappen said. “In Monaco I didn’t want to change the car, because we had the best car and the best package.

“The car was sliding around a bit today and we were managing the tyres. Some races are just more exciting than other races, it just happens. I think looking back the start could have been a bit better but I didn’t want to squeeze Valtteri off of the track.”

Verstappen is relishing the opportunity to keep pushing for further developments from Red Bull with its updated Renault engines to make gains at the upcoming races but concedes its top speed woes may still hamper its hopes of regularly battling for wins.

“Paul Ricard is a new track so you can see some surprises normally but it is still a bit of a power track with quite a few straights,” he said. “Our car is very strong but the straights are a bit long which is still our handicap. Austria is okay, it still has long straights but there are a few corners in there.”