Mercedes upgrades will close gap to Red Bull - Verstappen

Max Verstappen is expecting the gap between Red Bull and Mercedes to close at the British Grand Prix this weekend after the reigning world champions added upgrades to its race car.

Red Bull enter the Silverstone event having won the last five races to open up a 44-point margin over Mercedes in the constructors' standings.

On this occasion, Verstappen's title rival Lewis Hamilton will be given a boost, with the Briton in need of closing the 32-point deficit to the Dutch driver.

Asked if he expected Mercedes to be closer this weekend, Verstappen conceded: "They’re bringing upgrades, so naturally I think if they work they are closer. I expect us to be competitive, but it’s difficult to say where we will end up.

"We are very focused, ready for the race weekend again. We have been happy with the last few races but we always look on things that we can do better and that’s what we will do this weekend again.

"I always said we always have to work on trying to put the car in the best possible state on the track in terms of set-up.

"Of course, with the change in format it will be a bit more difficult to nail that, but I am looking forward to starting the weekend."

Despite Hamilton himself questioning the impact of the upcoming upgrades, Verstappen's team-mate Sergio Perez also believes Red Bull's rival will put up a stronger fight on Sunday.

"I’m sure they will be very strong this weekend," he added. "We will, of course, try our hardest as well and hopefully, we will be able to come back up on top. Let’s see what happens."

Red Bull has put in "a lot of effort" into sprint qualifying

This weekend marks the inaugural sprint qualifying event, a 100-kilometre event on Saturday that sets the grid for the grand prix.

Excited for the change, Perez said: "It will be interesting to see the new race format. As a team, we have put in a lot of effort to understand the new race format, a lot of preparation and practice has gone into this weekend.

"It will be very different for everyone, it’s definitely exciting and I hope that the hard work pays off."

Verstappen is holding judgement until after the event but promised he will not be holding back as he is keen to capture the three points on offer for victory to boost his championship challenge.

"I am not for it or against it at the moment," he added. "It’s three points extra you can gain, so you definitely try to win it, even though you know on Sunday it’s an important race.

"For the moment, I think we need to do a weekend like this then we can properly judge everything."

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