Max Verstappen admits Mercedes might be Red Bull's realistic competition after practice at the Belgian Grand Prix.
The Dutchman was left sixth fastest, 1.2s off the pace after ruining his low fuel run on the soft tyre during the afternoon session, although he was only 0.017s behind Ferrari using the medium compound after the initial flying laps.
Verstappen also revealed that his pace was compromised in the afternoon as Honda limited the engine modes available.
"The car was good in second practice, but we were a bit down on power compared to what we normally run on Friday," he said.
"I think that should be fixed for tomorrow but still, I think Ferrari will be very fast. I think they will be very hard to beat. We’ll try to be close to Mercedes. We’ll see what happens."
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Before the summer break, Red Bull and Ferrari enjoyed many close fights although Verstappen doubts there will be another in Belgium.
"I think this track definitely suits them a bit better than us," he conceded.
"They are very strong, they gain a lot of lap time on the straight here, but I think that’s not a surprise. We just try to do the best we can from our side.
"The battle I don’t think is going to happen.
"I don’t think there is much you can do now, everyone is running really low downforce. I think the next step we can do is take the wing off, but I don’t think that’s very smart."
