Max Verstappen shares one “smooth driving” ingredient that makes him so dominant at the Red Bull Ring in Austria

Max Verstappen recently touched on a few factors behind his brilliant form at the Red Bull Ring. The Dutch racer holds the title as the most dominant driver in Formula 1 around the Austrian GP track.

The Red Bull Racing star boasts a record four race wins at the Spielberg circuit, with his most recent coming at the 2023 edition. In the 2024 race, Verstappen also set a staggering pole lap time of 1:04.314, qualifying four-tenths ahead of second-place Lando Norris before the Grand Prix.

This run of impressive results by Max Verstappen largely led to him being quizzed about what could be the ingredient behind his consistently dominant form at the Austrian Grand Prix track. Sharing his thoughts about an ingredient behind his impressive run at the Red Bull Ring, Verstappen alluded to the good feeling he often has with the circuit. Speaking during the drivers’ presser, Verstappen stated:

“Brake late or go early on throttle, smooth driving. I’ve always felt good here for whatever reason. I think there are always tracks that are naturally probably suiting you a bit better than others. And this one probably suits me a bit better than some others, naturally."

"I know, of course, it’s our home Grand Prix, but I don’t know. It’s just a flow of the track, maybe in Sector 2, Sector 3, faster corners. You need a car that performs around here. And I think for most years, our car has been pretty decent,” he added.

The Austrian Grand Prix track has particularly proven to be the venue where Max Verstappen has shown his greatest dominance. The 27-year-old boasts four of his 65 career wins at the track and also holds the record for the most pole positions at the circuit. With Verstappen now looking to close the gap at the top of the Drivers’ Championship, he will be aiming for another impressive outing at the famed circuit.

Max Verstappen speaks on Red Bull’s upgrade for the Austrian Grand Prix

Max Verstappen also weighed in on the upgrades brought by the Red Bull team for the upcoming Austrian Grand Prix. The Milton Keynes-based outfit is set to introduce a significant update to the RB21 challenger, including a new floor among many other components.

Verstappen, who was quizzed about these upgrades to the car, shared a subtly muted optimism about the packages being introduced. Speaking during his interaction with the media, the four-time world champion stated:

“Yeah, I mean, hopefully it gives us a bit more performance. The team has been working hard to get these parts. So, of course, I’m very happy that we have an upgrade here. And yeah, every little bit forward will help us be more competitive and hopefully close the gap a little bit."

"But at the same time, we also know that others are also bringing bits throughout the year. So, we just need to keep working hard, keep trying to close that gap down,” he added.

The RB21 challenger has largely proven a difficult car to wring around various circuits, with only Max Verstappen—among the three drivers the Red Bull team has fielded this season—able to get the maximum out of it. His current teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, has largely struggled to adapt to the car's challenges since replacing Liam Lawson before the Japanese Grand Prix this season.

Verstappen will, however, hope the upgrades introduced to the car will help close the gap to Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris as he continues his charge for a fifth consecutive Drivers’ Championship.