Red Bull in a ‘good position’ as Verstappen eyes more Austria GP joy

Max Verstappen heads into the Austrian Grand Prix with his eyes set firmly on a repeat of his victory from last year as Red Bull marked the start of the 2020 F1 season with a raft of upgrades.

While Mercedes proved it had the edge over the opposition in pre-season testing four months ago, the ensuing change in circumstances and a long lead-in to the first round has given chief rival Red Bull the opportunity to bring its RB16 up to speed.

It’s time Red Bull has attempted to use wisely with both it and engine supplier Honda arriving at its home Red Bull Ring venue with upgrades it hopes will negate the gap to Mercedes.

It’s progress that gives Verstappen – who took a superb battling victory in Austria last year – a positive feeling heading into this weekend’s race.

“I think we are definitely in a good position and we have kept pushing to bring all of the parts here and we have an upgraded engine ready, it’s a good start,” he said.

“All those things were scheduled but after the four-month layoff to bring it here is good and I am looking forward to getting started so we can see where we are.

“It’s such a long break and only doing winter testing but is always a question mark, it is better to go out on track and do the talking.”

With F1 aiming for around 15/16 races from the original 22 planned and only eight confirmed as it stands, Verstappen says a shorter season doesn’t change how he will approach each weekend.

“For me it doesn’t [make a difference] because if its 22 races or 8 or 15, you never want the DNF so you always want the best result possibly without a crazy amount of risk. If you make a mistake, it’s more costly but that is how it is, so the approach is pretty similar. You always want a good result, you don’t want to retire.”