Max Verstappen has to take a grid penalty on Sunday, but even without a grid penalty it seems an impossible mission for the Red Bull Racing driver to finish ahead of Lando Norris. In the previous weekends Ferrari was still very strong, but in Brazil McLaren seems to be the team to beat again. Jos Verstappen is disappointed with Red Bull’s deficit and has no hopeful words for the rest of the weekend.
Verstappen again limited the damage reasonably well. McLaren was clearly too fast with both drivers, and Verstappen managed to nestle between both Ferrari drivers, while teammate Sergio Pérez only finished thirteenth. ‘In the end it was disappointing. We’re running out of time anyway. Fourth is not good enough,” is the harsh conclusion of Verstappen senior in conversation with Viaplay.
Giedo van der Garde, who was guided to the world titles in karts with Jos Verstappen’s engines in 2002, points out to Jos Verstappen that things went quite well in the first sector, but that the problem was in the middle part of the circuit. “That sector also has the most bends,” Verstappen explains Van der Garde’s observation.
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Jos Verstappen is very concerned.
Red Bull seemed to be taking steps with the balance in recent races, but has had more problems since Mexico. The height of the circuit does not help either, because the tires overheat more quickly. ‘In one corner he has understeer, and in the next corner he is close to oversteer. There’s just no balance in that car. He says: where I have understeer I can’t attack the corner. He just loses a lot of time with that, so that is not good,” concludes Verstappen senior.
Expectations for the race
The difference was especially large on the medium tires, which will probably also be used in the races. ‘He also lost four tenths with that, and on the soft tires it was three and a half tenths. He also says: it just doesn’t work’ Verstappen shares about his son’s words. If the balance is not good, there is a good chance that the tire management in the race will again not be good.
Son Verstappen did see a bright spot with the long runsbut his father has little faith in a happy ending. ‘He was quite happy with it, but when you see what the others are doing, and what Max is doing… If you are already four tenths short in one lap, you go into a long run also fall short. You don’t have to study for that,” laughs the Limburger, who expects Max Verstappen to achieve the maximum result again. ‘That’s what he always does anyway. It is what it is.’
