Max Verstappen Hints At Illegal Trick By Rival F1 Team - 'Things Happened In The Background'

Saajan Jogia | 15 Hours Ago

MONZA, ITALY - SEPTEMBER 01: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing looks on in the garage prior to the F1 Grand Prix of Italy at Autodromo Nazionale Monza on September 01, 2024 in Monza, Italy. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) / Red Bull Content Pool

Max Verstappen has hinted at a trick used by a rival team in the current season, as a result of which he had no chance of winning certain races. The four-time world champion admitted that "things happened in the background" that he was aware of that "no one will ever admit."

The 2024 season saw teams try their best to find performance in their cars as the regulations stabilized. However, a stark contrast to the 2023 season was the slump in Red Bull's performance caused by balance problems on the RB20 F1 car. The year also saw teams like McLaren, Mercedes, and Ferrari improve considerably, particularly the Papaya outfit that came under Red Bull's scanner with regard to its rear wing.

Oscar Piastri led the Azerbaijan Grand Prix for most of the race and defended an aggressive charge from Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. However, the rear POV camera showed that the rear wing flexed on the long straight under high pressure, thereby creating a semi-DRS effect. Rival teams demanded an investigation into the part in question, which had been approved by the FIA. Following the investigation, the FIA concluded that the wing was legal but still asked McLaren to make changes to its design that made it less radical.

McLaren complied with the governing body's request and made the required modifications. However, the team's title contender, the MCL38 F1 car, continued to shine in the remainder of the season and helped the outfit win its first Constructors' Championship in 26 years. While Verstappen won his fourth title in the Drivers' Standings, it wasn't without a tough battle with Lando Norris that got intense in the second half of the season. However, without naming any teams, the Dutchman has alleged that a rival team cheated and gained an advantage in certain races. Speaking to De Telegraaf, he said:

"Things happened in the background, so we had no chance at all in certain races.

"I know that for sure, but no one will ever admit that."

Discussing Red Bull's issues with the RB20 F1 car, which wasn't as dominant as its 2023 predecessor, the RB19, Verstappen explained that the team began developing the car from scratch after his sixth-place finish at the Italian Grand Prix. This came after it realized that it had taken the wrong direction with the car's development. He said:

"All plans for new parts, which were to come after that, were thrown in the garbage can, the team actually started from scratch after that.

"Before that, they couldn't find the exact problem. I saw a couple of graphs come up at one point when we were looking at the data. I saw certain aerodynamic shifts how we went into the corners, steering and also in terms of driving heights.

"It was different from the car the year before. I said: 'Hey, it's very clear that this is the problem, isn't it?' which was true. I hadn't seen those lines and graphs before.

 "I then said that it was quite clear what we needed to work on, because the engineers obviously know exactly what had been changed from last year's car. 

"At the beginning of last season, we still won our races convincingly, but I felt even then that the balance of the car didn't feel the way I wanted it to. 

"We still had a big lead over other teams, who perhaps hadn't had a very good winter."