Jos Verstappen Slams Red Bull For 'Standing Still' - 'Doesn’t Look Positive'

Saajan Jogia | Aug 31, 2024

Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing and Jos Verstappen walk in the Paddock prior to practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain at Bahrain International Circuit on February 29, 2024 in Bahrain, Bahrain. / Clive Mason/Getty Images

Jos Verstappen has taken Red Bull to task for its handling of the RB20's upgrades, pointing out the negative impact these changes have had on Max Verstappen's performance, while McLaren continues to secure race victories. With no solution in sight yet, Jos revealed that the "coming period doesn't look positive" for the Milton Keynes outfit.

Red Bull is grappling with balance issues on its title contender following mid-season upgrades that introduced new handling challenges. As the team dedicates more time to R&D, rivals like Mercedes and McLaren have capitalized, scoring the most points in recent races while Red Bull's performance remains stagnant.

Verstappen hasn't won a single race in the last five Grands Prix, a gap that was last seen in 2020. In addition, he has only won 7 out of the 15 races thus far, as opposed to the 19 out of 22 Grands Prix wins from last year. While Red Bull had its share of challenges since the beginning of the season in the form of internal conflicts and an investigation concerning team principal Christian Horner, the existing crisis concerning the RB20 is most severe as McLaren closes in on the championship.

With nine races to go, the Papaya team trails Red Bull in the Constructors' Championship by just 30 points in second place, while in the Drivers' Standings, Norris trails leading driver Max by 70 points. The recent Dutch GP, where Max won the last three years, was won by Norris, who led the Red Bull driver by a huge margin of 23 seconds at the finish line. Speaking about the grim situation on the Coen en Sander Show, as reported by PlanetF1.com, Jos said:

“No, we all didn’t expect that.

“It was also a huge disappointment that that happened, so to speak.

“He’s definitely combative, but after the race he was fairly ‘done’ about it, especially because we [Red Bull] just didn’t get it right.

“First of all, I think all the updates that have been brought this year, that they have not brought what they thought they would bring.

“And because of that, you do stand still a bit – and the others are making big strides anyway. And standing still is going backwards, certainly in Formula 1.”

Jos emphasized that Max highlighted the balance problem three months ago when the team was winning races. However, his warning was ignored, until recently. He added:

“At the beginning of the season where you then win races, then of course it all feels right, but he also said then that the balance is not right.

“Of course, that was not brought out at the time. They then try to keep that inside. He complained about the balance there too. Max actually complained about it about three months ago.

“Only they didn’t really believe it, or they didn’t really see it. Now you’re actually a bit too late.”

Warning about the future, the former F1 driver revealed that it was less likely that Red Bull had found a solution to the problem. He said:

“The coming period doesn’t look positive either.

“The races follow each other rapidly and I don’t think they have really found a solution yet. Red Bull has kind of stayed put and the rest have got stronger.”