Dutch ace Max Verstappen currently has a 32-point lead in the Drivers’ Standings over his closest challenger, Sir Lewis Hamilton.
And he believes Red Bull “would be stupid” to risk throwing this year’s Championship away by focusing their resources on 2022.
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Next year will see the introduction of sweeping regulation changes, and most teams across the F1 grid are already prioritising their 2022 cars over in-season upgrades this year.
Dr Helmut Marko, a senior Red Bull advisor, recently said that the Milton Keynes-based team would resist the urge to focus more on 2022 and would instead prioritise winning the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship this year.
Asked for his thoughts on Dr Marko’s comments, Verstappen said: “It was all about how competitive we would be at the beginning of the year.
“Of course, we were, so it would be stupid to just let it go. Nevertheless, I still have a lot of trust in next year but we focus on this year first to try and win it.”
Asked if he believes Sergio Perez is the ideal team-mate for him to have as he fights for his first-ever single-seater title, Verstappen replied: “Yeah, I have a good relationship with Checo and it is going really well.
“We are leading the constructors’ and I hope we can keep that up as well. We need both cars because all the time we try to be ahead of them [Mercedes].”
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