Max Verstappen Slams Red Bull's Decline: "Wake Up"
Jul.21 - A clearly angry Max Verstappen on Saturday said some of his fellow Red Bull colleagues need to "wake up" to the team's declining performance.
The Dutchman banged his fists on the steering wheel after both McLarens - unchanged since Silverstone - qualified ahead of Verstappen's heavily updated car at the Hungaroring.
"That is also why I am frustrated," he told De Telegraaf afterwards in a frank interview. "I had hoped that it (the update) would have given us more.
"I know now that, this way, it will be twelve long races."
Team advisor Dr Helmut Marko said late on Friday that despite McLaren's one-lap pace, the updated Red Bull was actually quicker on a 'long run'.
Verstappen disagrees.
"On Friday I already thought it wasn't optimal, so maybe we have a different opinion about that," said the triple world champion.
"Not everyone understands the situation, I think. With me, they know that I don't make excuses. Maybe not everyone is on the same wavelength. I think some people might need to wake up a little bit."
His comments come amid revelations in the Dutch media that, amid the intense power struggle at the team, Red Bull recently tweaked Marko's contract so that the 81-year-old's departure would not also allow Verstappen to jump ship.
Red Bull's new CEO Oliver Mintzlaff reportedly convinced Marko to agree to the amendment in the interest of team harmony, with Christian Horner and Verstappen's father Max also now on better terms.
Therefore, it seems more and more likely that Verstappen will definitely still be at Red Bull in 2025.
"I don't think I did my laps badly," said the championship leader when asked about qualifying in Hungary by the broadcaster Viaplay. "It's just that the car is not good enough. It's too sensitive and it's too slow.
"Of course it's not all bad," Verstappen added, "but if you want to become world champion, it has to go better than this."
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Max needs to become more of a team player. He had a 3rd place car today and he over drove it at least twice to place 5th. He talks about "My Race" not our race and speaks of Red Bull like he's not even part of the team. I also agree with the talent today his ass shouldn't be staying up late and getting up early to go Sim Racing the night before a GP. The teams given you 3 WDC and a great start to a 4th so how bout less attitude and more appreciation! Grow up and be part of the team on both good and rough days. Get up on the wheel little boy and show us how you can make a difference on those days when everything isn't going perfect. Someone needs to call him out on it!
It’s in his dna, he will only appeal to bullies. The sooner he is out of F1 the better, with so many talented drivers now there is no place for The Verstappens.
It's all about the car. Slow or twitchy car = poor result. Even the slowest cars on the grid are marvels of engineering. So, to eke out the second and a half to put you up front and stay within regulations, requires deep knowledge of how all the systems work together. Adjusting or changing them requires sophisticated engineering, advanced design software along with verification and validation protocols. So, the Red Bull engineering team has enormous pressure on it right now to re-gain the advantage.
Like any competitive sport, the points leader wants to stay there. Max is no different. I wouldn't be surprised to see him move to Mercedes - who are witnessing a resurgence.
Interesting times.