Verstappen reveals where Red Bull lacked compared to Ferrari and Mercedes in qualifying

Max Verstappen admitted Red Bull still has work to do despite qualifying third for Saturday's Sprint at the British Grand Prix, as the reigning world champion finished more than three tenths of a second behind Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton.

Verstappen secured the second row of the grid at Silverstone Circuit, but was unable to match the pace of Hamilton and Mercedes championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who locked out the front row. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc will start fourth, with Mercedes' George Russell lining up fifth.

Although pleased to come away with third, Verstappen suggested the result flattered Red Bull's true pace, explaining that the margins in SQ3 were so tight that he could just as easily have ended up much further down the order.

"I think so, yeah. I mean, for us, the outcome of SQ3 was very close," Verstappen said. "It could easily have been P3 or whatever, P6 or P7. But we were on the good side, so we were a bit closer."

Despite the encouraging grid position, the Dutchman stressed that Red Bull has not yet solved several performance issues.

"I think we're still not where we want to be – cornering, maybe a tiny bit, but also deployment and stuff, so a few things to figure out to try and find more lap time. But yeah, we'll try to do that, of course, after the Sprint."

Asked whether the RB22 felt like a step forward compared to earlier in the weekend, Verstappen acknowledged some improvement but said the car still falls short of his expectations.

"A little bit better, yeah. Still not where I want it to be," he explained. "I guess it's also just a combination of how the layout is now with some limitations on the straight, and just getting the balance in the right window."

His comments point to Red Bull continuing to struggle with straight-line performance and energy deployment under Formula 1's 2026 power unit regulations, while also searching for the ideal balance through Silverstone's high-speed corners.

Despite starting directly behind Hamilton and Antonelli, Verstappen was realistic about his chances of challenging for victory in the Sprint, believing Ferrari and Mercedes currently have a decisive pace advantage.

"They look a bit quick," Verstappen said of the front-row pair. "And I mean, they look quick so normally, team mate related, they should be quick also in race pace if everything calms down a little bit.

"So for me, I think it will be more of a battle with the guys behind me," concluded the four-time world champion.