Max Verstappen believes it is “quite clear” that McLaren boasts the quickest car in Formula 1 as he conceded that Red Bull has “work to do” during the summer break.
Red Bull appeared on course to produce another dominant campaign in 2024 in the nascent exchanges as Verstappen took four victories in five rounds with the RB20.
However, McLaren has emerged as a consistent challenger since introducing updates in Miami and the team controlled proceedings to seize a 1-2 at the Hungaroring.
Verstappen cut an agitated figure that weekend as he claimed that some people in the team must “wake up” as Red Bull’s upgrades weren’t enough to get back ahead.
But while he crushed the opposition over a single lap in the wet in Belgium, the Dutchman, who has taken a 10-place grid drop, insists that McLaren are the favourites.
READ MORE: McLaren: Verstappen F1 Belgian GP ‘favourite’ despite grid drop
Verstappen, who has quashed his win chances from 11th on the grid, has agreed with Red Bull boss Christian Horner that McLaren now has a more versatile package.
“I think if you look at the last five, six races, they for sure have been the best,” Verstappen said on McLaren. “I mean, quite clear.
“And I mean, that’s fine. Fair play to them. I think they have done a great job.
“From our side, yeah, we have a bit of work to do, a few things also to analyse over the break. From race one all the way to here, what we have done.
“And then, yeah, try to fight back from Zandvoort, see if we can actually improve the situation, try to turn it around, try to be more competitive.
“I think the battle is in a way still quite tight. So, you know, when you make small mistakes, it definitely can swing quite quickly.
“We have to try to use that in our advantage as well, because it’s so difficult at the moment. But we’ll see.
“I mean, there are so many races left and so many things that can happen.
“You can have the best possible preparation into every single weekend, but even then things can catch you by surprise.
“So you just have to remain focused, calm, and try to improve.”
Sergio Perez, who logged a front-row start to arrest his recent slump, has concurred with his Red Bull team-mate that McLaren has been a step ahead in recent times.
The Mexican is convinced that the summer shutdown is coming at an optimal time as he suspects the reigning champions have “got a bit lost” chasing its car set-up.
“I think they’ve been the best car, let’s say, for the last five races or so in different types of circuits,” Perez, who will line-up with both McLarens behind him, added.
“They’ve been strong, certainly in the race pace, and I think the break comes at a good time for Red Bull because we’ve got a lot to analyse on our season.
“The directions we’ve been taking, and hopefully get the balance a little bit more together for the second half of the season.
“More than any other upgrade, I think getting the balance in the right window will be the main key and the main focus to see what we’ve done.
“The upgrades we have brought to see where exactly we are, because I feel like we’ve been a little bit lost lately.”
