Max Verstappen on Red Bull's struggles: "If we don't change anything on the car, it is all going to be bad from now on to the end of the season."; Christian Horner fears losing both world championships - watch Azerbaijan GP live on Sky Sports from September 13-15
Monday 2 September 2024 10:38, UK
Max Verstappen expects Red Bull to be "all bad until the end of the season" unless serious improvements are made to the car.
The Dutchman's advantage at the top of the Drivers' Championship has been cut to 62 points with eight races remaining following his sixth-placed finish at the Italian Grand Prix and chief title rival Lando Norris coming third, behind Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri.
Verstappen, who has now gone six grands prix without a victory after winning seven of the first 10 in 2024, complained of grip and balance issues earlier in the weekend at Monza, and told Sky Sports' Rachel Brookes after the race that his team were "in no man's land".
Red Bull's lead in the Constructors' Championship has also been reduced to eight points by McLaren and they are in danger of losing that spot for the first time since the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix.
Verstappen said when asked whether Red Bull had pulled out the best performance they could at Monza: "In terms of position, but not in the way we approached the race. The pace was not strong enough, so we had to do our own race.
"I think strategy-wise we didn't optimise it. Some cars did a one-stop and we did a two-stop which was not the best. For most of the race we couldn't run full engine power because of a problem, so that doesn't help. All in all, a bad race.
"It would still have been a bad race with full engine power but we may have been more competitive. We were in no man's land.
"If we don't change anything on the car, it is all going to be bad from now on to the end of the season. We have a lot of work to do. We are pushing hard now."
What has really impressed is how Max has really engaged in the process. He is not panicking. He is working with the engineers, explaining the issues. I think he has shown great maturity as world champion. He was on Zoom calls last week, at the track early and will be on the simulator.
Red Bull team principal Christan Horner is concerned about losing both the drivers' and constructors' titles.
He remains hopeful fixes can be made to alleviate the balance issues but doubts they can be resolved completely.
He said: "With the pace we had today, both championships will be under pressure, for sure. No one puts us under more pressure than ourselves. Finishing sixth hurts.
"If we want to win both titles, we have to put performance on the car. We have to turn around the situation very quickly. This circuit has exposed the deficiencies in the car versus last year.
"We have a very clear issue we need to address. We have a disconnection in balance that just isn't working and as soon as you end up in that situation you are harder on tyres and you end up compensating, moving the balance around.
"You secure one problem and find another and you end up in a vicious circle. It is a characteristic we know we have to address and there is full focus in the factory to do that.
"It is about understanding the issue and there are certain fixes that can potentially be introduced, perhaps not to resolve the whole issue but address some of it. This time is crucial."
Horner also played down the notion that the departure of Adrian Newey as chief technical officer - the 65-year-old has not worked on any F1 projects since April and will depart the company in early 2025 - has had a major impact.
He added: "The issues were already there and one man's input could never be be so dramatic, so quickly. This started in Miami and Adrian was plugged in up until the Friday of Miami.
"He would have been working with all the same people and Formula 1 is a team sport. This is a team issue. The team will come up with a solution."
Formula 1 continues at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix from September 13-15, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Membership. No contract, cancel anytime.
