Sebastien Buemi believes it is just a "matter of time" until Max Verstappen secures his first victory of the 2026 season, with Red Bull's simulator driver insisting the team deserves far more credit.
The Milton Keynes-based outfit heads into this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix on the back of a major boost in Spa-Francorchamps.
Verstappen secured just his second podium of the season in the Belgian Grand Prix, with Buemi convinced second place would have been possible had Ferrari not capitalised on a well-timed virtual safety car.
It was a weekend full of positives for the Austrian outfit, as Buemi, who worked in Red Bull's simulator for the Belgian Grand Prix, revealed that Verstappen was pleased with the RB22's balance from the start of the event.
Too often this season, Red Bull has been chasing lap time, but Spa was a rare exception, with the team looking competitive from first practice.
Buemi was pleased to see genuine progress made last weekend, particularly on the reliability front, and is confident a Verstappen victory is on the horizon.
Discussing Red Bull's performance at Spa, Buemi told RacingNews365 during an interview: "Yeah, I was in the simulator, obviously, to prepare for the weekend. It was more of a straightforward weekend.
"Max was quite happy with the car balance from the beginning. We made small tweaks and adjustments, so I feel like the team did a great job by arriving there with a very good baseline. Then, obviously, reliability was good.
"Obviously, Isack had to take a penalty because of the power unit change, but the race was strong. Thinking about it, Ferrari got very lucky with the virtual safety car. Max didn't, so I have the feeling that P2 would have been the result he deserved.
"Let's say Ferrari got lucky and got P2 because of that. Honestly, I don't think that on that race weekend, or in general yet, if Mercedes does the job, it's difficult to beat Antonelli right now. So we still need to bring upgrades, but I do feel like, at some point, I mean, it's Max.
"You know, I feel like he's going to win a race. I think it's a matter of time, but it's still pretty impressive what the team has done by coming with its own powertrain, being on the podium and now having both cars in the top six. I don't know if people realise what Red Bull has achieved because I feel like it deserves far more credit than it gets."
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Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes, Samuel Coop and Nick Golding as they look back on the Belgian GP and look ahead to this weekend's race in Hungary. George Russell's major setback is a key discussion, as is Toto Wolff stating Mercedes has the best power unit.
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