Max Verstappen is not concerned by his failure to out-qualify Daniel Ricciardo since joining Red Bull because his race form has been so strong.
Ricciardo has been the master of qualifying this year, with a 9-0 record against his teammates in 2016. Verstappen replaced Daniil Kvyat for the fifth race of the season in Spain, which he won, and returned to the podium at the last race in Austria.
Asked if it was difficult to adjust to being out-paced in qualifying, he replied: "A little bit, but I learn a lot from it, and that is my approach to this season in general, just learn a lot to be ready for next year. And yes he is on top of that.
"I am definitely catching up, and the last two weekends have not shown what I am capable of in qualifying, so I am actually not too worried. And at the end you can do a great qualifying lap but it is all about the race where you score the points, and so far that is going really well. So I don't really have a lot to complain about. I am very happy at the moment.
"But it is getting there. And you should not forget I am driving next to someone who is really quick. So it is a bit different approach for me now, I have to up my game from where I was before in Toro Rosso because he is very quick.
Asked if he prefers to focus on race set-up during the weekend, he said: "Definitely, you are always trying to get the best possible car on Sunday because that is where you get the points. That is always the most important. But everybody more or less does that during the long runs; you try to get a good balance, and try to optimize everything for the race.
Maybe a little [compromise] but not too much because you want to be quick over one lap to have a reasonable starting position. I started eighth and finished second, so there are still a lot of opportunities if you have a good car in the race you can overtake instead of struggling on the tires and just trying to hang on."
The Dutch teenager pointed out that he is usually close enough to Ricciardo on the grid to not be too worried about his one-lap pace.
"He is on top of that. Of course maybe he has had some struggles in the race, but that is also where I enjoy it -- that is my part, the race. I just need to find a way how to get it a bit better in qualifying. But it is not dramatic, it is always I am behind him or one after that, so it I not a massive thing."