Verstappen ‘hurting’ by hidden Red Bull problem

Max Verstappen has revealed his performance potential is “hurting” due to Red Bull’s hidden problem. 

Red Bull’s RB20s appeared to suffer from a balance issue which played a leading role in Verstappen finishing 22.9s behind Dutch Grand Prix winner Lando Norris. 

The reigning three-time F1 champion managed to rescue second place to ensure his championship lead only suffered an eight-point blow, however, a significant performance difference to McLaren has surfaced.

Norris was over three-tenths of a second faster than Verstappen in qualifying and passed the Dutchman with ease during the race after slipping behind him off the line at the start. 

McLaren introduced upgrades in Zandvoort which improved the MCL38’s performance, whilst Verstappen’s car was noted for failing to respond to his steering input on several occasions at Turn 10.

When asked about whether Red Bull has one overriding problem, Verstappen noted that something yet to be discovered is making the car a handful.

“There’s just not a connected balance, front or rear,” Verstappen informed select media including RacingNews365.

“It wasn’t there in the first few races. But yeah, something in the car has made it more difficult to drive. 

“And it’s very hard to pinpoint where that is coming from at the moment. That is then hurting, of course, our one-lap performance, but also our long run.”

Verstappen Red Bull honesty

Verstappen has now failed to win since the Spanish Grand Prix in July, with his five-race winless streak his longest since 2020. 

It is by far the longest period in which Red Bull has not won a race since the current regulations were introduced in 2022, and the first time in which the Milton Keynes-based team do not have the fastest package. 

Red Bull not having the fastest car is accepted by Verstappen, who recognises that periods without a victory do occur in F1. 

“Yeah, I mean, that happens, right?” asked Verstappen. “I’ve had a lot of good years. I mean, some people have never won a race in their career, so you can also look at it like that. 

“From my side, we at the moment don’t have the fastest car. We have some issues that we have to solve and we are working on that. That’s the only thing I can say about that. 

“We’re very focused on it. There’s still a lot of races left, a lot of different kind of tracks. Zandvoort was just not our best weekend.”