Verstappen admits to 'tough' new Red Bull reality

Max Verstappen has admitted it is "tough" trying to perform at his maximum, as Red Bull struggles to hold the F1 field at bay.

The 26-year-old cantered to his second and third drivers' titles after his titanic battle with Lewis Hamilton in 2021. However, this season, he has had to re-engage his wheel-to-wheel abilities to continue to fight for victories.

At four races in length, the 61-time grand prix winner is currently on his longest victory drought since 2020 and he is having to fight harder than at any point in the past two years for results.

However, despite the challenges of this new reality, Verstappen is seeing the positive side to more competition at the sharp end of F1.

"It's tough, I'm not gonna lie," he admitted to Formula.hu when asked if the 'Max factor' is more important than even and how difficult it is to perform at 110% all the time.

"Of course, I always try to give my very best. I try to optimise every weekend, because if I have a good car, it makes my life also a little bit easier, and probably also makes the team's life easier.

"But that's not how it goes at the moment, so we have to really fight for every position at the top, but that's okay.

"It's a nice thing in a way, it keeps everyone on their toes. We just need to try and improve a bit more, try to find that momentum again, of being really competitive. And yeah, it's exciting times, I would say."

Thankfully for the Dutchman, Red Bull's early season form and his ability to produce strong performances against often-times quicker cars means he holds an almost-unassailable advantage in the drivers' championship.

McLaren's Lando Norris sits 78 points back with 10 rounds to run. Therefore, unless there is a some sort of significant development when F1 returns from the summer break, Verstappen should be able to ease to his fourth title on the bounce.

After Red Bull stormed to 21 victories last year out of 22 grand prix, Verstappen anticipated the resumption of more normal service in F1 this term, even if he wishes the team could have maintained more of its performance delta.

"I really enjoyed last year, but I also knew that we would never have another season like that," he said.

"It's very unrealistic that you have such a competitive year again, so, I was always prepared for these kind of things. Of course, I would have hoped for a little bit more of an advantage, but that's how it goes."

Nevertheless, Verstappen is relishing the fight and is having fun again racing against drivers he progressed through the junior ranks with.

"Now we are fighting with a lot more drivers, but you always know every driver has a particular way of driving. That's the same in I think every sport, right," he added.

"Not every person is the same in how they handle [different situations] but that's fine. I grew up with a lot of the drivers, so it's quite fun to be battling with people that are your age and you already know from go-karting times as well."