F1 News
Verstappen says Honda's engine upgrade needs to be bigger
Max Verstappen says that Honda's recent engine upgrade was not enough to make them more competitive as he could only manage P4 in France last weekend.
F1 returns to the scene of a Max Verstappen win in 2018 when they visit Austria this weekend, but barring a miracle, the Dutchman is unlikely to be topping the podium again due to the weak Honda engine, compared to the Mercedes and Ferrari power units.
According to GPFans.com, Verstappen said: "You could see in lap one I think we are missing some top speed to the top guys. The McLarens behind are very quick on the straight.
"The car balance is not too bad. We do need to gain a bit of performance from the car to be really competitive. We do need to make a bigger step also with the engine.
"You could see the Renault over one lap they have a quite powerful 'quali mode' or whatever they use in lap one.
"Afterwards they have to back it out, of course, and then you can see they are not a threat any more. But over one lap we can definitely improve a bit more."