Max Verstappen has conceded to feeling confused by the changing order behind his current domination of F1.
Verstappen is currently on a run of six consecutive victories, over which time there have been five different runners-up.
At the British Grand Prix, Lando Norris was the latest for a McLaren team that was clearly the best of the rest over the course of the weekend at Silverstone due to raft of upgrades on the MCL60 for the past two events.
It has proven to be the case that when a team other than Red Bull updates its car, it makes a leap forward ahead of its rivals, although never quite enough to challenge the constructors’ champions.
Assessing what is going on behind him in races at present, Verstappen said: “It’s very confusing to me because every single race weekend, it’s someone else.
“I think it’s because it’s so close behind that if you get your car in a little bit of a better window, it works on one particular track.
“So for me, I don’t know what’s going to happen (at the next race) in Hungary, to be honest, who is going to be quick or the second quickest.
“The stable factor so far is that every single weekend, it seems like we are on top, which, of course, is the most important from our side.
“But again, Hungary will be a completely different track. We will put some upgrades on the car there and hopefully they will work well.”
In the confusion, two-time F1 champion Verstappen was amazed at the new-found pace of McLaren.
With the first tranche of upgrades on the car in Austria, Norris hinted at what might be to come when he qualified and finished fourth.
With the second phase added at Silverstone, notably a new front wing and nose assembly, and with team-mate Oscar Piastri sporting the initial set of developments, the duo qualifed second and third respectively.
Only the introduction of a safety car during the race after Kevin Magnussen’s Haas caught fire prevented Piastri from joining Norris on the podium as the Australian had to settle for fourth.
“You could see a little bit of a picture on Friday,” said Verstappen. “I was definitely positively surprised with the pace of the McLaren in the race that they were actually very quick compared to the cars behind.
“At the end of the day, you just have to focus on yourself throughout the whole weekend and then you just find out what happens behind you.
“But yeah, positively surprised. Let’s see what the next race will bring again.”
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