Verstappen Furious Over Failed Upgrade

Red Bull faces a challenge calming an irate Max Verstappen after a disappointing car upgrade fails to meet expectations.

In addition to the performance decline of the RB20, Dr. Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s F1 advisor, admits that a new priority for the team is to end Max Verstappen’s foul mood.

“Max is really very angry,” Marko reveals today.

At first glance, the three-time world champion simply lost his cool during the Hungarian GP weekend, as it became clear that a crucial Red Bull upgrade had not displaced McLaren from its leading position.

However, even those very familiar with Verstappen were surprised to see just how furious the 26-year-old driver was last weekend.

“Seeing Max like that, and how he was after the race, is not something I like to see as a motorsport fan,” stated Jan Lammers, former F1 driver and Dutch GP boss.

“We don’t want him to be indifferent to second or third places, but we also have to accept that he is a rather poor loser.”

“You know what I saw in him in Hungary? I saw Jos (his father).”

Former Red Bull driver Robert Doornbos agrees: “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

Trying to explain this particularly bad mood, Marko had denied that it had anything to do with the fact that Verstappen had gone to bed at 3:30 AM on race day after a stint in his simulator.

The narrative changes a bit today.

“Max Verstappen showed himself to be rather touchy this weekend, and of course, it didn’t take long for criticism to emerge – which isn’t surprising, considering he spends half the night playing racing simulations. We have agreed with Max since then that he will no longer use the simulator so late.”

“But the real issue is that he expected more from the upgrade, just like us.”

“Max is really very angry. We now need to ensure that his mood improves again. Our car needs to improve again. Unfortunately, the updates have not worked as we wanted.”

“So, it’s about improving the car again and giving Max a good feeling. Then, he will have no reason to consider changing teams.”

“Minds will calm down again. He’s the best Formula 1 driver. He makes a difference. He also knows that we know this.”

Surprisingly, without being asked, Marko brings up the possibility of Verstappen changing teams. Or at least thinking about it.

However, over the Hungarian GP weekend, Red Bull definitively closed the door on Verstappen’s exit by concluding a new contract with Marko – which explicitly separates Marko from Verstappen contractually.

Marko even admits that it’s the right decision for Red Bull to firmly hold onto Verstappen, even though the team allowed Sebastian Vettel to leave for Ferrari while there was still a full year remaining on the German’s current contract in 2014.

“It’s different with Max,” Marko simply replied, well aware that Red Bull is very “Verstappen dependent” at the moment…