McLaren driver Lando Norris said his performance at the previous race in China showed he could take his first Formula 1 victory this season.
Norris finished second in the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai last Sunday behind Red Bull's Max Ferstpen and said at the time that he did not expect to be able to achieve that result.
In the last 23 races, Verstappen has won 21 and it is difficult for drivers to match him.
"I've already said, I don't need more confidence. There's more evidence from China. At the beginning of the year I said I think we can fight against Red Bull and we'll be able to win this year. It won't be easy. I don't think it will for a long time, but at the right time, in good conditions, with things that will suit our car a little more - I believe 100 percent in the team and I believe in my abilities to be able to do it," Norris told Sky.
"But it has to be in the right place, at the right time. I don't think we're close enough on average for now. But I want to believe," added the 24-year-old British driver.
Norris climbed to the podium for the 15th time in Shanghai and is the record holder for the number of first three places in races without winning.
Norris often couldn't hide his disappointment over missed opportunities, but said he's trying to change his mental approach.
"It's not often that I believe in something, whether in myself or my abilities or something like that. But I'm trying to change that, I'm trying to be better, and one of those things is to have more faith in what I can do and what I can do accomplish, and one of them is to say, 'I think we can win the race this year,'" Norris said.
The Formula 1 championship continues on May 5 with a race in Miami.
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