With his team bullish about the car development programme it has delivered this season, the team has been upbeat about the performance of its chassis.

And although aware that it suffers a power deficit, Verstappen has been left in no doubt about where his team's strengths are so far.

"The car is very good here," said the Dutchman. "You can see again in high speed we are the fastest cars.

"The car is very enjoyable to drive. Of course we are missing straightline speed but that is how it is, and we try to make the best of it."

Race form strong

Although Verstappen thinks a repeat of the third row the team delivered at the Spanish Grand Prix may be too much to expect, he is very confident about long run form so far.

"I think the long run was very good," he said. "I was very happy with the long run. I had Mercedes in front of me that wasn't pulling away a lot, and in general the car balance was very positive.

"I think we can be very strong on race pace. I think only Mercedes was a bit faster.

"I think we can be quite strong. I think 5th and 6th [in qualifying] is optimistic, but 7th/8th is a good target. That is realistic."