31/05/2024 08:52
| door Mark Hanselman
Max Verstappen has had a very difficult weekend in Monaco. His streak of eight consecutive pole positions came to an end, leaving the 26-year-old world champion stuck in sixth place in a very fickle RB20 that couldn’t handle the curbs. In addition, Red Bull Racing is struggling with correlation problems, and to top it all off, the Limburger’s complaints have not been taken seriously for years. A critical Christian Horner did not make things any better.
At the start of the season it was very restless within Red Bull. The future of team boss Horner was first at stake, after which team advisor Helmut Marko also hinted at a departure in Saudi Arabia. Verstappen linked his fate to the fate of Marko, and has since been linked with Mercedes. That storm slowly subsided, but it was well informed F1-Insiderwhich has a direct line with Marko and had the scoop on several major developments in the paddock this season through journalist Ralf Bach, reports that the unrest has returned regarding Verstappen.
“Before the Monaco race, it was seen as a certainty that world champion Max Verstappen would stay with Red Bull Racing in 2025, and would only consider a switch to Mercedes in 2026,” Ralf Bach and Bianca Garloff write for F1-Insider. ‘That is no longer a certainty in the run-up to the Canadian Grand Prix. F1 Insider understands that the events in Monaco could still lead to Verstappen driving for the Silver Arrows next year. There are several reasons for the Dutchman’s changes of mind, and after nine years and three world titles in a row, he could leave Red Bull at the end of the year.’
Insufficient trust
Despite the Limburger’s obvious talent, there is said to be a lack of mutual trust. ‘Firstly, Verstappen no longer trusts the technology of the dominant team, and he has the feeling that the engineers do not trust him enough. Although he clearly leads the championship, Verstappen is losing confidence that Red Bull will be able to perform at the same level as Ferrari and the increasingly strong McLaren in the future.’ In the last three weekends, Ferrari and McLaren took more points than Red Bull.
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Not Verstappen or Norris, but Leclerc took the most points in May.
‘In Monaco, Verstappen had no chance, and sixth place was the maximum achievable in his RB20. In Canada it could become difficult again with the Red Bull design, because Verstappen cannot drive over the curbs,” it is pointed out that the circuit in Montreal is full of curbs. ‘You can’t just set the Red Bull higher, like other teams do, because the Red Bull depends on the very efficient aerodynamics. Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has confirmed this to us,” Bach points out in his conversation with the team advisor.
Marko about problems
The 81-year-old Austrian is then quoted: ‘If we change the ride height, we lose too much downforce. That’s why we have limitations here, but we still believe that on traditional circuits like Barcelona we will be superior. If not, we really have a problem. I do think that the Verstappen factor will continue to make the difference on less favorable circuits. He is in top form, and there is no other driver who can do lap after lap at the limit without making mistakes.”
Verstappen not taken seriously
In addition to the problem with the curbs, Red Bull also suffers from a correlation problem. “In Monaco we were able to drive over the curbs in the simulator without any problems, but that was not the case on the real circuit,” Marko reports to F1-Insider, which reports that Verstappen does not feel taken seriously. ‘The problem with the simulator is not new. F1-Insider has learned that Verstappen has been complaining about incorrect data from the simulator for two years, but the technicians do not take it seriously. This irritates the Dutch.’
“The atmosphere in the team has been very bad since the scandal surrounding team boss Christian Horner, and that contributes to the frustrations.” The German medium then quotes Jos Verstappen, who indicated after the weekend in Monaco that ‘Red Bull may have to focus on racing and mutual communication again, instead of on other things.’ Verstappen senior also reported that ‘something has to be done’ at Red Bull, and that his son has managed to mask the problems for a long time.
Horner’s criticism is wrong
F1-Insider sees Jos Verstappen’s statements as a clear warning shot, making it more likely that Verstappen would still think about a transfer before 2025. ‘That goes hand in hand with the fact that the controversial team boss unconsciously does everything possible to get Verstappen pushing towards Mercedes. In Monaco he is said to have criticized the three-time world champion for the mistake in the first corner in Q3. That would have cost him a better result.’
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Criticism from Horner would not have gone down well in the Verstappen camp.
Afterwards, Verstappen did not want to hear much about his mistake, and indicated that he was surprised that he had gotten this far in the first place. In addition, the irritated Limburger announced in the media that he wanted to ‘invite everyone in the paddock to try to drive faster in that Red Bull’, and father Jos indicated that Max had actually masked the problems at Red Bull for a long time. “Horner’s criticism did not go down well with the Verstappens,” says F1-Insider. ‘The unpopular team boss did not mention that teammate Sergio Pérez only finished eighteenth in the difficult-to-drive Red Bull. One thing is certain: the chance that Mercedes can get Verstappen next year is getting bigger and bigger,” is the final conclusion of F1-Insider.
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