Red Bull urged to ‘reawaken potential’ to avoid ‘feisty’ Verstappen

Red Bull has been urged to reawaken its dormant potential in this season’s F1 championship battle to keep a feisty Max Verstappen at bay.

Following the continuation of Red Bull’s two-year dominance early this season, the team is now in danger of relinquishing the lead it has held in the constructors’ championship since the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix as its advantage has been whittled down to only eight points over McLaren, whilst Ferrari has closed to 39.

In the drivers’ standings, after winning seven of the first 10 races, Verstappen has failed to take the chequered flag in the last six, his longest streak without a victory for four years, resulting in his drivers’ title advantage standings at 62 points to Lando Norris.

The issue is a disconnected balance problem between the front and the rear of the RB20 that is not a quick fix and may result in Red Bull again being the fourth-quickest team ahead of the upcoming street circuit double-header in Azerbaijan and Singapore.

Former Red Bull driver David Coulthard feels Red Bull is capable of stemming the tide threatening to wash away its hopes of retaining its title.

“They are certainly not as competitive as they were earlier in the season,” said Coulthard, speaking on Channel 4. “The stopwatch doesn’t lie. They have fallen behind because the improvements to the car haven’t worked.

“But we are still talking about a team that has won seven races this season, more than twice as many as any other racing team.

“What happens next in the championship is in the hands of the same engineers who built this winning car. They just have to succeed in reawakening the potential that is now dormant.”

‘On par with Sergio Perez?’

For Coulthard, the Italian Grand Prix perfectly illustrated Red Bull’s demise given Verstappen was unable to extract any meaningful performance from the car.

The three-time F1 champion started seventh, only one position and just 0.040s ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez, a surprisingly small margin between the duo and far from the norm.

“He [Verstappen] didn’t get it right in the last part of qualifying, which is very unusual for him,” noted Coulthard. “Mistakes in both fast laps? A time on par with Sergio Perez?”

Indicating what that could lead to, Coulthard concluded: “And we know he’s feisty and he’s got a lot of passion.

“When you win, everyone loves you. But when things aren’t going well, that raw passion comes out again.”