Styria 2020 - GP preview - Red Bull

MAX VERSTAPPEN Q&A

How are you feeling after last weekend?

I feel good but of course the result was not what we wanted, which was to score a good amount of points and fight for the win. I was looking good for a podium which I thought was easily possible because it was basically between Mercedes and myself on raw pace. But then you also look at how the whole race panned out, we could have scored a good amount of points against Lewis but it is what it is, we can’t change it and now I’m looking forward to hopefully having a more positive weekend. We were a bit down on pace compared to Mercedes in qualifying so we definitely need to close that gap to fight them in that area rather than on strategy. Our pace is usually a bit better in the race than in quali but there is still quite a bit of work to do which the engineers are flat out on. We have ideas and the direction to work on for this weekend so that’s positive.

What are you doing to keep busy between races?

The environment is really beautiful here so that’s nice and I’ve been on a few runs with my trainer in the local area. I relaxed a little on Monday and then met up with the engineers and we talked through some ideas for the weekend. We also had a Team BBQ last night which was a good way to have some fun in our Team bubble as we cannot go anywhere outside of that. The days go by quite quickly.

What’s different heading into this weekend compared with last weekend?

I’m looking forward to racing on the same track again this weekend and it’s a good opportunity to get a better understanding of the car. Whatever we found wasn’t perfect last weekend we can improve this week. On the same track I always think it’s quite nice to do a direct comparison, depending on the weather, and hopefully we can do better this time. It looks like it could rain this week and I’m not sure anybody knows how competitive they are in the wet with these new cars so that could be interesting. I always enjoy driving in the wet, I don’t mind it, but to be quick you need both the car and driver to be 100%.

ALEX ALBON Q&A

How are you feeling after last weekend?

I feel ok. In some ways I tried to switch off my thoughts after Sunday’s race and take the positives from the weekend. The car is in a good window, we’ve still got a bit of work to do but we’re there and we can fight – that’s the main thing. The biggest shame is we didn’t capitalise on the race and we didn’t get the points we deserved, but I’m going into the weekend confident. I feel like there are areas to improve on in myself and as a Team, but I’m feeling good and ticking down the days to Friday. There will be a slightly different atmosphere this weekend because we know the track and the car, nothing has really changed from the last race, so it will just be about fine tuning things and working on the areas in the car Max and I have been talking about.

What are you doing to keep busy between races?

I went hiking on Monday which was good fun as you don’t really get chance to hike the mountains in the UK and then we went to the lake. Yesterday, I went on a bike ride, and then we had a BBQ with the Team which was good fun. I might play some golf today so it’s been a very chilled out week, but I’m making the most of the Austrian countryside.

What’s different heading into this weekend compared with last weekend?

I think there’s less anticipation heading into this weekend now we’re in a rhythm. We know where the car is at, driving and set-up wise, we know what’s needed, so there are less unknowns and now it’s just time to do the business. Get into the weekend, fine tune things and close the gap to Mercedes.