Two-times Mexican Grand Prix winner Max Verstappen is unsure how competitive Red Bull will be at the track this year following their switch to Honda power.

Last year Verstappen predicted his Renault power unit would struggle at Mexico City’s high altitude. But the Renault-powered Red Bulls swept the front row of the grid and Verstappen scored his second consecutive win in the race.

“The car always had good mechanical grip,” said Verstappen today. “And actually, being very positive, I think the Renault engine was always quite decent here. You also have to give credit to when it’s working.”

He admitted the team is unsure how it will be at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez this weekend.

“This year honestly from the Honda side we don’t know yet how competitive it’s going to be,” he said. “Let’s see in practice.”

Verstappen suspects Ferrari’s power advantage will make them hard to beat on Saturday.

“I think this year will be a little bit more difficult because I think in comparison to Ferrari and Mercedes this year we are not maybe that far ahead with the car and Ferrari is just super quick on the straight so it’s very hard to go gain that time back in the corners, especially in qualifying.

“In the race they don’t have that amount of power difference. Still there is a difference, but not that big. So maybe in the race we’ll have a few more chances.

“But also we have to see how the tyres are going to behave because last year there was, of course, big issues with the graining. So you couldn’t really push flat out throughout the whole race. This year, I think the tyres are a bit harder so hopefully that will help.”

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2019 F1 season