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MONZA, Italy — Max Verstappen fears it is “not realistic” for Red Bull to win the Formula One world championships in 2024 if the team cannot find an answer to the recent struggles with its car.
Verstappen, who won 19 out of 22 races in 2023 en route to his third world championship, slumped to a lowly sixth-place finish in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, extending his winless run to six races. Teammate Sergio Pérez finished one place behind in seventh.
The result allowed Lando Norris to cut Verstappen’s advantage at the top of the drivers’ standings to 62 points, while McLaren’s double-podium finish brought it to within eight points of Red Bull in the constructors’ championship.
“At the moment, both championships are not realistic,” Verstappen said post-race at Monza on Sunday.
It’s a dramatic reversal in fortunes for Red Bull since the early part of the 2024 season when Verstappen won the first races by an average of 15 seconds. Nine races ago, Red Bull was over 100 points ahead of McLaren, while Verstappen was 84 points clear of Norris as recently as the British Grand Prix.
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F1 driver, constructor standings 2024
But now Verstappen fears that it could lose both championships unless Red Bull can adjust its car to undo its recent dip in performance.
“It’s up to the team to come with lot of changes with the car, because we basically went from a very dominant car to an undrivable car in the space of, what, six to eight months?” Verstappen said, admitting it was “very weird” for him to experience.
The Red Bull RB20’s issues have sapped Verstappen’s confidence when behind the wheel. He described a “massive balance problem” that exists over a single lap and longer race stints.
“We haven’t got a connection between front and rear,” explained Red Bull team principal Christian Horner. “Max can’t lean on the rear on the way into the corner – or Checo – and they end up compensating for that, creating understeer.”
Horner emphasized the urgency of the situation, stating that both championships “absolutely will be under pressure” if Red Bull continues to perform as it did at Monza. He stressed the need to “turn the situation around very quickly.”
“This circuit has exposed the deficiencies we have in the car versus last year, and I think that we have a very clear issue, which has been highlighted this weekend,” Horner said. “We know we have to get on top of and address. Otherwise, we put ourselves under massive pressure.”
McLaren’s surge in performance started in Miami after the team overhauled its car with a significant upgrade package. This package improved the car’s aerodynamics and efficiency, allowing it to compete more effectively at most circuits. While Red Bull had a strong starting point with the RB20, its midseason upgrades have proven ineffective.
Neither Red Bull were in contention at the Italian GP. (HOCH ZWEI)
Verstappen was doubtful that the upcoming circuits in Baku and Singapore would better suit his car, saying: “It doesn’t matter with where we are at the moment; we are bad everywhere, so we need a lot of changes.”
The power shift at the top of F1 comes after a spell of Red Bull domination, including a near-perfect 2023, where it won 21 out of the 22 races. McLaren’s upswing has given the team confidence it can win its first constructors’ title since 1998, while it is also considering putting its full backing behind Norris to try and catch Verstappen for the drivers’ crown.
Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team principal, described Red Bull’s recent downturn as “really weird” to watch. He also warned not to bet against the reigning champions.
“I have no insight, obviously, but that is not at all the Red Bull of the start of the year, dominant,” Wolff said. “I think that Max was able to keep it going for a while with his ability. But it seems now that from the sheer results, and that’s what I see without understanding, without knowing what’s going on inside, because it could be a blip also.
“That was probably one of the worst races that we’ve seen for many years, to have no pace. But who am I to say that? We’ve been (having) two years where nothing functioned, and the same with Ferrari a few races ago. So I don’t think you can write them off.
“They are a formidable team. And I’m sure there will be better races.”
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Top photo: Mark Thompson/Getty Images
