Ferrari disputes Red Bull ‘team to beat’ tag despite Max Verstappen form

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur denies that Red Bull is now the outright team to beat in Formula 1, emphasising the strength of both McLaren and Mercedes in the fight at the front.

Red Bull won its first races of the season with Max Verstappen in Sepang and Singapore respectively, with the RB22 seemingly pushing itself to the front of the queue in recent races.

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It had George Russell declaring that Red Bull is now the team to beat.

“The performance of Red Bull has been very impressive the last three weeks on three very different circuits and, right now, they are the team to beat,” said the Mercedes driver.

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies did not dispute the ‘team to beat’ label when it was put to him at Marina Bay, either, telling PlanetF1.com and assembled media: “I think what is a fact is that, in these last three races, we had the pace to win, and actually we won two out of the three.

“So, for the first time this season, in these three races we had the ultimate pace, and it’s fair to say that the three tracks are different enough for one to think that moving to other types of tracks, the car should be competitive.”

Vasseur, though, is not quite sold on the idea of Red Bull now setting the pace at the front of the field.

He pointed to the form Mercedes and McLaren have shown this season, alongside positive spells for Ferrari, making it a true front four at the head of the pack as it stands.

Asked if Red Bull is now setting the benchmark, Vasseur replied to PlanetF1.com and others after a brief pause: “I’m not sure, honestly.

“They are doing very well, but it’s not the team to beat. You have to focus on McLaren and Mercedes.

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“If you have a look from the beginning of the season, Mercedes was flying. Then we won two races, then McLaren won two races, then Red Bull won two or three.

“I think it’s changing because quite often you have four teams, you had four teams less than two tenths [apart in qualifying].

“That means that, if someone is bringing an upgrade next week, the classification can change.

“But most important is to be focused on ourselves, not to think about the others.”

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