‘We have work to do’ – Max Verstappen acknowledges dominant days are ‘behind’ Red Bull despite ‘positive’ Belgian GP

“The first stint, I stayed out of trouble the first few laps, got into that DRS train and basically just stayed there. Then we tried to do a nice undercut which I think worked quite well, but yeah the cars are all very similar in pace and then it’s just very difficult to move up.

“So, I think from P11 we did a good job. I think looking at the championship it was a positive day for me, of course you want more but yeah with our pace the last few races, it’s not realistic to think we can go P11 all the way to the front again. Those days are behind unfortunately.

“But we have plenty of things to analyse over the break and see if we can improve the car starting already in Zandvoort.”

READ MORE: Hamilton wins thrilling Belgian Grand Prix with team mate Russell disqualified

Verstappen heads to his home race next time out without a win since Spain, and with a car that is no longer the class of the field. On paper the McLaren is every bit as quick if not quicker, and Mercedes seem to have a car which is in the mix on race pace – and that comes after Ferrari’s strong start to the season.