Toto Wolff, Mercedes Formula 1 boss, considers Red Bull a live threat to the title championship with Max Verstappen on board.
Verstappen has emerged as a promising figure with its Honda’s power plant. He stood victorious in the last two races, while he aced out pole position for Hungarian Grand Prix.
The season of 2019 still holds 10 rounds to go with Verstappen on third position. He is 63 points behind the title contender Lewis Hamilton and is tailing Valtteri Bottas with only 22 points behind who was unable to finish last race at Germany.
Verstappen performance has improved since the team switched the power plants from Renault to Honda.
The new engagement has empowered Verstappen to hold on to top five positions through out this years season so far. His performance outscored Mercedes drivers in the last four races.
Wolff commented while answering to Verstappen being a title threat: “Yes – there are 10 more races to go, so 260 points to score. What’s our advantage? 60-odd.
“You can see from the sheer maths that Max is somebody we need to take seriously and consider as a title rival in the same way we need to consider the two Ferrari drivers as title rivals.
“We cannot afford to take the foot off the throttle.”
Alarmed Bottas, after a winning performance by Verstappen that lead him to pole, asserted that Red Bull and Honda’s performance will only encourage Mercedes more.
“Obviously it always depends on the tracks and circumstances,” he said.
“But if you look at the trend, let’s say from the last five races, Red Bull has been the one improving the most – closing the gap and today qualifying on pole.
“So, for sure they are doing many things right, and that means we have to work harder as a team. But I’m sure Ferrari isn’t standing still either.”
Wolff reiterated the concerns that his driver had shared with media.
“I think he’s damn right,” he said. “We had a good streak of success, and it feels now that the push that we probably need to do is even more [necessary].
“The others are catching up, and it’s easier to catch up than to maintain the level and set the benchmark.
“There’s a reason why no one ever won six consecutive drivers’ and constructors’ championships, because it is not easy.
“I guess we all know that, but we’ve got to push harder and smarter in order to stay ahead.”
