Verstappen fears for the future at Red Bull

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Max Verstappen has said that he fears Red Bull is at risk of falling further behind the front runners in Formula 1.

Verstappen is worried about the absence of forthcoming development on the RB13 this season. The lack of power from the TAG Heuer-badged Renault unit is a particular concern.

"Right now, as you may have read, there will be nothing more [in 2017]," Verstappen told Dutch broadcaster Ziggo Sport Totaal. "Updates were promised but there have been few."

He pointed out that this would have a knock-on effect on the team's prospects next year.

"I'm worried, also for the direction for next year," he explained. "The regulations are not changing much [for 2018], so the more the team learns this year, the better it is for next year."

Verstappen retired from the Canadian Grand Prix with engine issues. He was frustrated and outspoken in post-race interviews, saying this season had been "completely crap" so far.

"We wanted to go for the world title this year, but we are far from it," the 19-year-old said later after calming down.

How is your season Max? 'It's completely crap'!

"I want to win and I absolutely think this team can. You can see we have improved the car a lot. But the power is yet to come."

"It is what it is and I can't influence the situation," he sighed.

"You can get upset, angry, but it doesn't solve anything. It's better to be optimistic and try to make the most of the situation."

Verstappen remains under contract with Red Bull for next season, and continues to have the backing of team boss Christian Horner.

"He knows how hard the team is pushing to make the car better. He'll see the big picture," Horner said.

He pointed out that Daniel Ricciardo's success in finishing in third place in Montreal showed the team was still in contention.

"We were racing against a Mercedes and we beat Ferrari. Max hasn't had the results, but it's still a long season. His time will come."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.