Max Verstappen: “Something’s not right”
The Dutchman, second at the finish of his home Grand Prix, but more than 20 seconds behind the winner Lando Norris, believes that something went wrong in the car's development, mainly blaming the precarious balance of his single-seater.
The first Grand Prix after the summer break allowed to identify the initial trends. Among them, Red Bull, which now struggles to fight for victory. This Sunday, despite a good start that saw Verstappen overtake Norris at the first turn, the Dutchman never seemed able to take the lead. Finally overtaken by Norris on the 18th lap, the triple world champion seemed to struggle with the balance of the car, an issue that has persisted for several races within the Austrian team.
« I had pretty much the same balance from the first practice session until the race. The limits are the same. So yes, it’s very difficult to solve at the moment. Yes, it seems that we are too slow. It’s a bit strange because I think in recent years, we have been rather good in this area. So there is something wrong with the car lately, we need to understand what it is and try to improve quickly », explained the current championship leader after the race, stressing that something seems to have gone wrong in the development of this car.
The first difficulties for Red Bull appeared on bumpy circuits like Monaco, and despite the team’s developments, the balance of the car seems increasingly hard to find, an element that was not present at the beginning of the season.
« This issue was not present during the early races, but something in the car is making it more difficult to drive. It’s very hard to pinpoint where it’s coming from at the moment. And of course, it affects our performance on a single lap, but also on long stints. So, something has been off with the car lately, and we need to understand and try to improve it quickly. The balance is simply not there, neither at the front nor at the back, commented the Dutch driver. Despite overtaking Norris, he admitted that he couldn’t do anything against Lando Norris, aware that the McLaren is now the fastest car.
« I was running my own race, taking care of the tires, trying to do the best I could. But yes, at one point, nothing was working or responding anymore. Lando got closer for the first time, he was close, but not close enough. And the next lap, there was nothing I could do. Once he passed, I focused on my race and tried to finish in second place.
As the Italian Grand Prix at Monza approaches, Verstappen and the Milton Keynes team hope to find solutions quickly. Otherwise, McLaren, who is only 30 points behind the Austrian team in the constructors’ standings, could catch up with them.
« I mean that we just need to solve our balance issues. I think it will already help us a lot, including regarding speed. Of course, at Monza, many things are new. You know, the tarmac, the speed bumps, even the layout of turns 1 and 2. So we need to understand a few more things. But yes, we know we have a lot of work to do. » With five races without a victory, the Dutch driver is now under threat from Norris, the Briton having closed the gap to 70 points in the championship. The battle for both titles is therefore shaping up to be increasingly intense for the end of the season.
