Max Verstappen has conceded that his Red Bull car came up short towards the end of last season (Image: GETTY)
has conceded that failed to get the results they were looking for when they car last year. The Dutchman eventually secured his after a battle with at the business end of the campaign.
Verstappen was imperious in the RB20 during the early stages of last season as he stormed to the top of the Drivers’ Championship standings and built a formidable lead over his closest rivals.
But he came under pressure from Norris after tweaked their car midway through the year.
unveiled their RB21 on Tuesday morning as they posted a series of images to their .
And reflecting on the RB20, Verstappen admitted: “The development direction we chose at the time showed a lot of promise, but unfortunately it didn’t work like that on track so we had to change a few things.”
He then turned his attention to this year’s car as he explained: “Now let’s hope that is the right direction. We are confident it is the right direction, but let’s see how much we can extract out of it for this final season with this car.”
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Red Bull star Max Verstappen won his fourth consecutive F1 title last year (Image: GETTY)
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Verstappen will have the opportunity to try out the RB21 during three days of testing in Bahrain this week.
Testing will run from Wednesday until Friday as the four-time world champion prepares to team up with Liam Lawson, who replaced at the end of last year.
And Verstappen continued: “My motivation is there. Last year was not straightforward but we still won the championship. I am very excited to look ahead and hopefully we can improve our car, and that is a motivation in itself.”
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Lawson’s arrival isn’t the only change at , with the Milton Keynes-based team also heading into an F1 season without former design leader Adrian Newey for the first time since 2005.
And Verstappen added: “I don’t think we should think about that too much. It is done. He is not there anymore. That’s how it is. It’s how it’s been last year and I trust also the people who are there at the moment – we have to do it all together.
“It is a team effort but I have a lot of respect for what Adrian has done for the team, have a great relationship with Adrian and I am excited for him to start a new project [with Aston Martin].”