Verstappen on upgrades Mercedes: 'They'll all claim it's for reliability'

Max Verstappen is not really afraid of Ferrari and Mercedes this year. Speaking to GPBlog and others, the reigning world champion addressed the changes made by the competition ahead of the upcoming season.

In many ways Ferrari had the fastest car on the track last year, but on the straights it still could not match Red Bull. In the corners, on the other hand, Ferrari often had the upper hand. Verstappen was asked if he thinks that will change this year, but according to the reigning world champion, it is still too early to say.

"At Ferrari they have focused very much on that of course, to be faster on the straights," Verstappen explained. "But then of course you lose out in the corners. So I think time will tell what the right decision is. Obviously you want to go quick on the straights, but you also need to have grip in the corners, so you have to find a bit of a balance in that."

Because of the 'engine-freeze', tinkering with the engine is only allowed if it increases reliability. Red Bull does not need that much: Verstappen and Perez both only dropped out twice last year with technical defects. Things were a bit different at Ferrari, and Mercedes has also indicated it needs adjustments. Verstappen doubts it all really has to do with reliability.

"Everything feels pretty good with us," the Dutchman explains. "I think Ferrari had to dial it down quite a bit last year, Mercedes will probably have found something again. Everyone claims it's for reliability, but there's simply more performance coming out of it. We will see. I definitely think they have made a step, maybe even a bit more than us in terms of power, but in the end most of it still has to come from the car itself."