Max is confident about 2020: 'Hope to be able to fight for the title'
Published on 28 November 2019 by Mike Motilall
Max Verstappen attended the FIA press conference in Abu Dhabi on Thursday afternoon. He was asked how he thinks the first season with Aston Martin Red Bull Racing and engine supplier Honda has gone. Max says: “The cooperation is promising and we have scored good results. I find the reliability also promising and that has been a strong point throughout the entire year. Also we have made a lot of progress with the engine.
By now it has become clear that Honda will be supplying power units to Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso till 2021. Max continues about the ambitions: “Of course we always want more and will never be satisfied. But everything is going well and we have a good base for next year. Throughout the year we have learned a lot and I am confident that next year we can have a positive start.”
Max has had very good results the last few races, with a pole position and a win in Brazil. On the question whether he thinks he has a championship winning worthy car, the Dutchman says: “I am confident in that towards the next season. But of course you need to wait and see what your competitors have. We want to be able to fight for the championship, so from the start of 2020 we want to be very competitive. I hope we can fight for the title.”
Back to the present day on the Yas Marina Circuit. Who has the fastest car? “I don’t know. We will see”, says Max, an adding to that: “Looking at this season, I think that it’s Mercedes. We will see how the weekend goes, because it’s about finding the right setup. The last races the three top-teams have been very close and hopefully that will also be the case here.”
At this moment, you are third in the standings. Does that make you happy? Max: “Third is always better than fourth or fifth. But looking back at that in twenty years’ time, it wouldn’t rather make me very happy. We are all here to win and to fight for the title. And yes, it would of course be nice to finish third in the standings after this weekend.”
