Why Verstappen isn't interested in hyping up Red Bull

Ahead of a 2021 season where Formula 1 cars will be more similar to the previous campaign's machinery than ever before, Red Bull has a different vibe about it.

Gone are bold proclamations of a definite title challenge or specific targets laid out for wins.

Banished too has been any clear insight into its new car, with the team having elected to deliberately hold back on releasing images of its RB16B on track from its Silverstone filming day.

There is a new team-mate dynamic too, with Red Bull having taken the pragmatic decision to abandon its young driver programme commitment for this year and instead opt for the experienced Sergio Perez in one of its seats.

Max Verstappen appears more calm and philosophical about the battleground that lays ahead. From him, there's no over-excitement about what Red Bull and engine partner Honda have delivered over the winter, nor a desire to read too much into 'promising' early signs from its car.

Instead, as he spoke after his first try out of the RB16B, Verstappen was eager to play everything down and refuse to get drawn into taking a stab at where he thinks Red Bull could stack up this year.

"I just don't want to hype things up at the moment," he said. "I just want to stay low key and focus on our job. We should do the talking on the track, not next to the track. That's what I prefer."

Such a stance is perfectly understandable. While the rules carry over means it is unlikely there will be a dramatic change in F1's pecking order this year, there are enough uncertainties in the system to still give Verstappen some hope that things could be different.

PLUS: What Red Bull is trying to hide with its RB16B launch

Nothing is won and nothing is lost just yet; everything will boil down to how the team kicks things off in Bahrain.

On the positive side, there is the shift that will come from any gains that Honda has made with its power unit. Then, perhaps more importantly, will be the factor of which team has dealt with the new floor rules the best.

"I just don't want to hype things up at the moment. I just want to stay low key and focus on our job. We should do the talking on the track, not next to the track" Max Verstappen

Although the changes to the regulations regarding the floor area in front of the rear wheels appear to be quite minimal in visual terms, the effect on the cars will be dramatic. And that's especially true for top outfits like Mercedes and Red Bull, which had aggressively optimised this part of their machines.

Despite all that, you would think, after a year where much of the focus around Red Bull was of the aero anomalies that hindered its chances against Mercedes, a first try out of the RB16B would be enough to give Verstappen a hunch on whether the vices had been banished.

Not so, he says. Demo tyres, a mileage limit because it's a filming day and lack of comparison with other cars have left him shy of offering anything concrete about whether or not Red Bull has got on top of the balance issues.

"It's very difficult to comment about balance," he said. "I'm not focused on that. I just wanted to get the car out and run, do our 100km, then everyone has their data.

"I got back into a Formula 1 car, and next we move to Bahrain where the real work of course to try and find the optimum set-up on the car is happening, with proper tyres. With these demo tyres, you can't really read anything."

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While the tricky balance of the RB16 was something that dogged Red Bull for much of the year, and especially hurt Alex Albon, it was not something that ultimately alarmed Verstappen too much.

The Dutchman's driving abilities, and what his demands are from a car, left him more than comfortable in handling the less than stable rear end.

It's why his desire for this year's car is not about having something that is easier to drive: instead it's something that has 'more power' and 'more grip'.

"I mean people always talked about the rear end being so twitchy, but I think it's just general grip, of course, that we were still lacking a bit," he explained. "But then also we were without power. We know that. It's no secret and I think you can see it. So we worked a lot with Honda also throughout the winter and, yeah, it's all looking promising.

"But it doesn't make sense now to hype everything up. First, what is more important is get to the track in Bahrain and try to do the best amount of learning we can on the car and the engine to optimise everything."

Actually, while the outside focus on the team was all about the balance and handling of the RB16, what Verstappen was feeling in the cockpit was different. He doesn't care much about how difficult the car is to drive: give him something quick and he will rag it.

"A car is always on the edge and a fast car is never super easy to drive," he said. "If it becomes super easy to drive, most of the time it is too understeery anyway. So I just wanted more grip.

"It didn't mean that it was very tricky to drive, because you adapt to the situation you're in. And, I think, at the end of the season, Mercedes of course had stopped developing that car from July, because you couldn't really see a lot of updates. We just kept learning.

"As long as it's fast, that's the most important thing to me. Even if it would look pink, purple, or any other colour, or shape, even if it has the weirdest shape on the car possible and it's fast, then I'm happy with that" Max Verstappen

"We know we had a few issues with that car, and we wanted to improve it, and also knowing that the regulations, they wouldn't change that much, for us it was important to just get on top of that.

"So, yeah, let's see this year if we improved it even more and even better, to be hopefully let's say more competitive compared to Mercedes."

Ultimately, despite the many elements that will come together to prove whether the RB16B is a hit or miss, Verstappen's wish list is quite simple. Horsepower figures, floor rules and secret parts don't really feature.

"As long as it's fast, that's the most important thing to me," he smiled. "Even if it would look pink, purple, or any other colour, or shape, even if it has the weirdest shape on the car possible and it's fast, then I'm happy with that."

After all, Verstappen knows that hype will not make his car go any quicker.