The three-time reigning Formula 1 world champion, Max Verstappen (Red Bull), sixth in the Italian GP on Sunday, was very critical of his single-seater which has been “transformed into a monster” and which he says needs to be “completely revised”.
“We have to make a lot of changes to the car because we went from a dominant car to an undriveable car in six to eight months. We really have to completely overhaul our car.”the Dutchman said.
“The whole weekend has been bad. At the moment we are bad everywhere so we need a lot of changes. It seems unrealistic today to be able to win both championships (drivers’ and constructors’)”he insisted.
Seventh on the grid at Monza, Verstappen limited the damage by finishing sixth, taking advantage of the disappointing race of his main rival Lando Norris (McLaren), only third while he started from pole position.
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With eight races to go in the season, the Dutchman still has a 62-point lead over the Briton. In the constructors’ standings, however, Red Bull’s lead has almost completely melted away, with McLaren now only eight points behind.
Verstappen also rejected the idea of a possible causal link between Red Bull’s lack of performance in recent weeks and the departure of historic engineer Adrian Newey.
“I always said that I would have liked Adrian to stay. But this is not the case. Last year we had a great car, the most dominant in history, and now we have basically transformed it into a monster. So we have to reverse the trend.”he hammered home.
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Asked what more he could do to help improve the car, the reigning three-time world champion expressed his helplessness. “I’ve given a lot of feedback to the engineers, I think I’ve done everything I can. Unfortunately, I don’t have a degree in engineering or aerodynamics.”he said ironically.
Verstappen, who had won 19 of 22 Grands Prix in 2023, a record, had won 7 of the first 10 GPs this year but is now on 6 races without a victory, a first since 2020.
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