Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen opened up on the difficulty of delivering flawless performances every weekend despite Red Bull losing its advantage.
The triple World Champion Max Verstappen went into the summer break with a lead that many would consider very comfortable (78 points) under most circumstances.
However, he created the majority of his lead in the first few races of the season, and as other teams caught up with Red Bull development-wise, it has become much more challenging for him to maintain it.
Asked by Formula.hu how difficult it is to perform at more than 100% all the time, the 26-year-old Red Bull Racing driver replied:
"It's tough, I'm not gonna lie. Of course, I always try to give my very best. I try to optimise every weekend, because if I have a good car, it makes my life also a little bit easier, and probably also makes the team's life easier."
The Dutchman hasn't won four Grand Prix races in a row. Though he will try his next during his home race—the next race weekend—he knows it will be easy and that every detail matters now.
"But that's not how it goes at the moment, so we have to really fight for every position at the top, but that's okay."
"It's a nice thing in a way, it keeps everyone on their toes. We just need to try and improve a bit more, try to find that momentum again, of being really competitive. And yeah, it's exciting times, I would say."
What is helping Verstappen at the moment is that all the teams and drivers are taking points away from each other. The fact that Mercedes drivers won three of the last four races doesn't mean anything for him in the Championship.
It seems the only person who could now challenge him is Lando Norris, and as long as he doesn't cut the lead by more than seven points every single race from now on, he should. The 26-year-old has the Championship title in his pocket.