Verstappen: Hard for Red Bull to beat Ferrari

Max Verstappen admits that it will be difficult for Red Bull to beat Ferrari at the Italian Grand Prix, given the nature of the Monza circuit.

Red Bull, powered by Renault, is still lacking straightline speed, and finished a distant fifth and sixth in Friday's second free practice session.

Verstappen trailed the pace-setting Mercedes duo by around a second, and was three tenths away from the closest Ferrari of Kimi Räikkönen.

Red Bull recently overtook Ferrari for second in the standings, but Verstappen feels it will be damage limitation for his team this weekend.

"We know this is going to be a more difficult weekend for us; we're not too bad, it's just difficult," Verstappen explained to media after the first two practice sessions.

"We have to run [low downforce], otherwise there is no top speed, but we found a good balance between the sectors now, so it's up to us to improve the car a bit more.

"It will be tougher than Spa, I think you can see that."

Pushed on the gap to Ferrari, he said: "We're a little bit too far behind; maybe if we get everything better sorted for tomorrow we can be closer, but they looked very strong.

"It will be hard to beat them, but we're going to give it a try."

Verstappen was also asked about his meeting with FIA Race Director Charlie Whiting in the paddock on Friday morning, following criticism of his driving at the Belgian Grand Prix.

"We had a chat about what happened [during the race at Spa-Francorchamps]; I prefer to do it with Charlie, instead of in media or in the drivers' meeting," he commented.

"Spa is now gone, we're in Monza, so we just focus on Monza."