Max Verstappen believes this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix could potentially serve as a “defining moment” in his and Red Bull’s season.
The Dutch driver comes off the back of a crash-strewn start to the year in which the 20-year-old has collided with three separate drivers – including team-mate Daniel Ricciardo at the last round in Azerbaijan.
Verstappen, who scored a spectacular maiden Formula 1 victory at the Catalunya circuit in 2016, is aiming to bounce back with a vengeance as he seeks his first podium of 2018 after two non-finishes in the first four races.
With Spain representing the start of the European season, all F1 teams are expected to bring a raft of upgrades to enhance their cars performance and make substantial gains on their closest competitors.
Red Bull is planning significant updates as they aim to close the gap to rivals Mercedes and Ferrari in both championships. With the race for performance gains set to intensify, Verstappen says a leap forward could present a “defining moment” in Red Bull’s campaign.
“Everybody has done a lot of laps in Barcelona but I’m looking forward to seeing how the cars progress this year,” Verstappen said. “We have many updates coming, hopefully they will be positive and we can be even closer to the front, but of course everybody else will also bring new parts.
“It could be quite a defining moment for the season and I’m interested to see how everyone will perform. I believe our car is very fast, we still need a bit more top speed but hopefully that will come.”
