Red Bull bosses warn Ferrari of 'plenty of potential to unleash' in 2022 F1 car

As Max Verstappen continues to build his world championship lead, team boss Christian Horner warned on Sunday (19 June) that Red Bull must not become complacent.

Following power unit-related grid penalties for Charles Leclerc, another win for reigning world champion Verstappen in Canada pulled his points lead out to almost 50.

"We've now won a few races in a row," said Horner. "We're leading both championships, Max drives flawlessly; that's all great. But we also have a problem with (Sergio) Perez's car that we need to investigate, and Ferrari's speed here in the race was really impressive.

"We must not let up."

Immense pressure

Indeed, Dutchman Verstappen finished less than a single second ahead of Ferrari's Carlos Sainz on Sunday.

"The pressure from Sainz at the end of the race was immense," Dr Helmut Marko said after the Canadian Grand Prix.

"Max didn't quite manage to pull out of the DRS gap because Ferrari was significantly faster than us in the second section of the track. The fact that Max's tyres were older, of course, played a role, so I have to say hats off to him for withstanding such pressure. Luckily for us, Sainz made two mistakes in the hairpin.

"Even under the greatest of pressure, Max drove without making a single mistake. It didn't help that his radio failed, so we didn't know if he received our message that he could unleash a little more power. But if the radio doesn't work, at least we have the advantage that we don't hear any more complaints," he joked.

READ: WRAP | 2022 Canadian Grand Prix - Verstappen takes first win in Montréal

As for Perez's failure, Marko confirmed that it was a fault of the gearbox.

"It was at the end of its life, but it should have held on. It could have been from the accident on