Verstappen speaks openly about the accusation that Red Bull would only develop and tune the car according to his needs
Daniel Ricciardo, Pierre Gasly, Alexander Albon and Sergio Perez – they have all struggled with Max Verstappen as a team-mate at Red Bull, and in some cases have even been clearly shown up
One possible explanation as to why drivers who were convincing in other teams looked so pale against the three-time world champion was that Red Bull develops and tunes its car solely according to Verstappen’s needs.
However, the three-time world champion now clearly rejects this theory: “When people ask me about my driving style, I can’t answer that, because it’s always about adapting to certain situations or the way the car feels. “
Team just wants to make the car faster
“What do I want from the car? I want more grip. You always want a lot of things, but some things are just not realistic. So I adapt to the car I have.”
It’s no secret that Verstappen has an unusual driving style, where he needs a fairly strong front axle but can also cope with a very loose rear end. His 34 victories in the past two seasons speak volumes. However, team-mate Sergio Perez, who has only won four races in the same period, has a much harder time with this characteristic.
Nevertheless, the team would not favor Verstappen in development: “The team brings upgrades throughout the year that make the car faster and not upgrades that simply change the vehicle balance in a certain direction. “
Not overly strong performance in the race
“The upgrades give the car better weight distribution and more grip. That’s the idea behind it. Of course, I’m very happy with the current car balance, but if the car understeers more in the future, I’ll have to adapt my driving style accordingly. I’ll have to do the same if it gets more oversteer,” explains Verstappen, who is still under contract with Red Bull until 2028.
However, Verstappen also has no explanation for a different characteristic of last year’s RB19, which was significantly stronger in the race than in qualifying: “I don’t have the impression that we do anything magical in the race, because we prepare as we always do. I rather think the others [Ferrari] have a good qualifying and then aren’t as strong in the race.”
“In the end, it’s always about performance in the race. Of course we also want to be fast in qualifying, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with focusing more on the race. “
