Theory that Max Verstappen went slower “to hurry up” Red Bull upgrades
“I would hazard a guess that it was not as fast as Max could go"
Martin Brundle has hinted that Max Verstappen didn’t drive to his maximum at the F1 Dutch Grand Prix, to pressurise Red Bull to bring upgrades.
Verstappen was forced to settle for P2 at his home round, a fifth consecutive grand prix where the once-dominant champion has failed to win.
Lando Norris soared to a win by a 22-second margin suggesting the McLaren has overtaken the RB20 as F1’s fastest car.
But Sky Sports’ Brundle said: “I would hazard a guess that it was not as fast as Max could go.
“He knew he couldn’t beat Lando.
“Dropping back a bit like that… it’s going to give the factory a ‘hurry up’, I’d be sure of that.”
Next weekend at the F1 Italian Grand Prix, McLaren have already vowed to bring further upgrades to adjust to a much different track to Zandvoort.
“Monza is an unusual race track,” Brundle warned Red Bull.
“But I think McLaren will be fast everywhere.”
Red Bull ‘taken confidence’ from Verstappen
Brundle analysed the poor form of Red Bull: “It’s confusing. It’s not that long ago that a Red Bull looked like it was on rails!
“When you’ve got a dominant car in a race, the car feels amazing. Every time you come in, you’re top of the leaderboard.
“You think that you can’t improve the car. Suddenly, someone catches you and puts you under pressure.
“You start pushing the car harder and these gremlins turn up.
“You have to be careful that you’re not psychologically going down the wrong route.
“It seems like they’ve changed the car and taken away the confidence and control of the driver.
“Confidence for a driver is everything. You don’t hurt the tyres as much, use the brakes as much…
“If you don’t trust the car you’ve got to drive to the lowest point of where the grip will be.
“Norris rocks up, and you’ve got to push harder, and the car won’t live with it.”
Verstappen still leads the drivers’ championship while Red Bull still top the constructors’ championship.
But McLaren have cut the deficit to 30 points in the constructors’.
Verstappen retains a 70-lead lead from Norris in the drivers’.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
