Red Bull has lost its dominance in Formula 1 and suddenly world champion Max Verstappen has to worry about his fourth title again. F1 legend David Coulthard thinks that the Dutchman is now making unusual mistakes himself.
The Italian Grand Prix ended in disappointment for Max Verstappen once again last weekend. In sixth place, he had nothing to do with the outcome of the race. In the World Championship standings, his lead over Lando Norris continued to shrink.
At least in Monza, former F1 driver David Coulthard saw the 26-year-old as partly to blame. In qualifying, Verstappen failed to complete his lap without making any mistakes twice. In the end, he only started seventh and was left with a mission to limit the damage.
“That’s very unusual for Max,” Coulthard said on the English TV channel “Channel 4”. “He makes a mistake on one lap, but on both? And in the end he had the same lap time as Checo (Sergio Pérez, editor’s note)?”
The former McLaren driver even fears that Verstappen could lose his head further in the season finale.
Red Bull “has to find something”
“We know he’s temperamental, he’s got a lot of fire in him,” said Coulthard. “When you win, everyone loves you. When things don’t go well, that passion comes out again,” he fears.
In recent weeks, Verstappen’s hurt pride has repeatedly expressed itself through extreme sensitivity on the radio. Differences with the team have been more or less played out publicly during the race.
“They are no longer the benchmark in terms of pure performance. They know that. They can’t hide from it,” Coulthard said, analyzing the team’s situation.
Since the latest updates have not brought the hoped-for improvements, the company has fallen even further behind, the 53-year-old continued.
“They need to find the group of people who designed last year’s brilliant car, because the upgrades aren’t working and they need to find something,” Coulthard said.
Source: www.sport.de
