You rarely see Max Verstappen like this: After crossing the finish line in third place in qualifying for the Formula 1 race in Hungary, the Dutchman angrily hit his steering wheel with his fist. “Am I not allowed to be frustrated sometimes? Yes, that happened,” the three-time world champion later explained the scene briefly in the press conference.
The fact that he only managed to get third place on the grid in Budapest is something that bothers the Red Bull driver, who is used to success. The form of the first races, in which he took seven poles in a row, is gone. Since then, he has only had one pole in six races.
The extensive updates were supposed to turn the tide in Hungary. But that hasn’t happened. “These updates aren’t good enough,” he complains. “I had hoped for more, and that’s why I’m frustrated.”
Verstappen had already said on Thursday that Hungary would be a very important weekend for Red Bull. “And that’s exactly why I’m frustrated,” he said again. “I expected more.”
“We were a bit too slow all weekend. We tried to optimise everything, but in the end we were still too slow.” And it doesn’t seem to matter whether it’s scorching hot or the track is wet with rain. “We were beaten in all conditions,” he criticises.
According to motorsport consultant Helmut Marko, the car did not have the balance that Verstappen needed. The Dutchman had recently complained that his car had been difficult to drive for some time. This has not changed with the upgrade: “It’s similar,” he complains.
Verstappen pushes harder than in 2023
Although Marko said after Friday that things were looking good for Red Bull, Verstappen does not share that impression: “I already said yesterday that it was not optimal. Maybe we have a different opinion about that,” he said.
His team is taking Verstappen to task after the latest results: the updates are working, “but we’re still not first, are we?” he complains. “We need more. It’s that simple.”
“I was actually quite happy with my laps, but in terms of balance, everything is really on a knife edge. I push as hard as I can and then of course you have a few little moments here and there,” said the Dutchman. “I’m definitely pushing harder than last year, but the great lap times just aren’t happening anymore.”
“And that means we’re a little slower. And we have to work on that. It’s that simple.”
The McLaren, on the other hand, “took off like a rocket”, as can be seen from the first row of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri – even though Verstappen was not that far behind, just 0.046 seconds behind.
Concerns about the championship
But he thinks that’s just an understatement: “I had two sets of tires and Lando only one, so the real gap is even bigger than five hundredths. And I have the feeling that it will be a problem tomorrow too. And if you want to become world champion again, you have to be better than that.”
The championship is currently Verstappen’s smallest problem. In the World Championship, he still has a comfortable 84-point lead over Lando Norris, who has only won one race this season.
So far, Verstappen has always managed to keep the upper hand. “But that will stop at some point,” he warns, “because everyone learns from their mistakes.”
He admits that he is a little worried about the title: “It’s not like I’m going to go into my motorhome, put my feet up and think: everything’s fine. No, I’m frustrated and not happy with how things are going at the moment,” he clarifies.
Is Red Bull continuing to lose ground?
And the constructors’ championship is in danger anyway with Sergio Perez’s bad phase if the Mexican does not improve. The last time Red Bull went home with the most points of all the teams in a weekend was in Miami.
“It’s been like this for a while now,” warns Verstappen, looking especially at McLaren: “At the beginning they were second or third, and now they’re starting to win races. At some point this is no longer sustainable,” he warns.
Red Bull is again in danger of losing ground to McLaren in Hungary. After his accident, Perez will only start from 16th place, while McLaren has both cars on the front row and is also the Dutchman’s big favorite on Sunday.
“McLaren looked very strong on the long runs. They were fast in the last few races, so I don’t see us suddenly being faster now,” he says. Even the fact that it could be significantly warmer again tomorrow “will not make any difference in pure pace compared to McLaren.”
Marko, on the other hand, tries to spread some optimism again. He refers to a strong long run and emphasizes that Red Bull had the two fastest cars and that Verstappen’s tire wear was “minimal.”
Two against one? If you’re faster, no problem!
The problem: “McLaren has two cars, if they play well in terms of strategy, we will have a harder time,” said the Austrian. Verstappen doesn’t actually see the fact that McLaren has two cars as a big problem: “If you’re fast enough, it doesn’t matter,” he says.
“If you’re faster, you’ll overtake them anyway. Then they can defend themselves or do crazy things, but it doesn’t matter. You can blame it on the fact that it’s two against one, but if you’re fast enough, then it’s still fine,” said Verstappen. Addendum: “But I don’t think that’s the case at the moment.”
He doesn’t yet know how he will beat McLaren on Sunday. “We can only do our best and try to have a good, stable balance. I hope I can find that and follow them. But I don’t know,” he says.
“To be honest, my long runs were OK, but not fantastic. I think it’s better to be realistic than to sit here and spread false hope. But let’s see tomorrow. It is what it is.”
Source: www.sport.de
