Verstappen hoping to close in on top three teams amid ‘great step forward’ for Red Bull

Max Verstappen is hopeful that Red Bull can continue to close the gap to the top three teams after a “great step forward” last time out in Miami, with the Dutchman stating that the squad are “very motivated and very excited” for the upcoming races.

After a tricky start to the season for the Milton Keynes-based outfit, the team appeared more competitive amid the addition of upgrades to the RB22 at the Miami International Autodrome, a weekend that also saw improvements from McLaren and Ferrari.

Looking ahead to what might be possible during Round 5 in Canada, Verstappen remained open-minded but voiced his hope that Red Bull can again be close to the battle at the front of the field.

“Let's wait and see,” the four-time World Champion said during Thursday’s media day in Montreal. “I think Miami overall for us was a great step forward but, again, it's going to be a bit of a development race every single weekend depending on what other teams bring.

“Here is a completely different layout. There will still be some surprises and things to get on top of, but I hope to again be close to that top three.”

With a quick succession of races coming up across the next few weeks, Verstappen was quizzed on how decisive these will be for the championship.

“I think for us it's more about just focusing on improvement, trying to be in that fight in the front with the top three teams,” the 28-year-old answered. “I think Miami we were close, we were kind of in that fight a little bit, and now we try to close that gap further.

“I don't know how much that will happen but, at the same time, I hope that we can do that. The team is very motivated and very excited for the coming races.”

Verstappen arrives into Montreal off the back of making his debut in the Nurburgring 24 Hours, in which he and his team mates had been leading before a driveshaft problem on their car – with three hours and 20 minutes still on the clock – put them out of contention.

“Honestly, it was great. I had a really fun week,” he reflected. “The drivers were really welcoming, the fans were great, the organisers as well were super friendly and really open-minded. I have to say, it's a real cool event to be part of and I think also for the fans, they see so many different kind of cars, the community as well.

“Just very positive feelings, and the track itself is just so cool to race and also the changing conditions that we had. For me, of course a shame about the end result, but the whole experience was really great.”