Max Verstappen voices Red Bull 'hope' after F1 pecking order setback

Max Verstappen has conceded that Red Bull is fourth in the F1 pecking order after enduring a challenging Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

Verstappen ended the race in fourth place, having been boosted up two positions late on following retirements for Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc.

Red Bull was unable to compete towards the front of the grid all weekend with Ferrari coming out on top in the fight against Mercedes. ,

Verstappen is hopeful that Red Bull will soon be able to re-join the battle but conceded it does not currently have the car to do so.

“It's clear that we're still behind Ferrari, Mercedes, and McLaren, because I basically finished behind each one of them,” Verstappen told media including RacingNews365.

“We're still in P4 as a team, maybe it's a little bit better, but it's still not where we want to be.

“It's a work in progress, and I hope very soon that we can pick up a little bit more performance.”

Ferrari was able to launch a challenge on Mercedes this weekend in Barcelona following the introduction of a significant upgrade package.

Verstappen asserted Red Bull needs something similar to get involved, insisting it can't rely solely on tweaking its set-up.

“In general, we're still the fourth fastest team, that's not really going to change on any of the upcoming tracks, unless you bring performance,” he said.

“We're not going to solve it by just changing the setup, so that's what we'll look at.”

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