So used to having things their own way, Max Verstappen and Red Bull have faced difficulties in recent weeks with the likes of Ferrari and McLaren closing the performance gap
Max Verstappen appears to be making more mistakes due to heightened competitiveness, according to Ferrari chief Frederic Vasseur.
Once he upset Lewis Hamilton by a hair in the 2021 championship race, the Red Bull star has essentially been in a class of his own. He took the championship in the next two seasons rather easily, and he started this season as dominant as ever.
However, things have changed during the past three racing weekends. Charles Leclerc profited from Red Bull’s misfortunes at the Monaco Grand Prix, while Lando Norris defeated him in Miami and came dangerously close to doing so again at Imola.
With those outcomes, McLaren and Ferrari shown that they are finally capable of putting Red Bull and Verstappen under more strain. And it has unnerved the reigning champion, according to Vasseur.
The Frenchman stated: “If you look at the last two weekends, Max made more mistakes in Imola than in the last three seasons. I don’t want to draw any conclusions from this weekend.” You don’t have to make mistakes if you have to push yourself harder or stick to your comfort zone for the approach or anything else.
“I’m not coming to any conclusions, but I believe they were in that circumstance. They’ll come back soon and stronger, and I don’t think it will be an easy race all the way to the finish.
“As soon as you are in a position where you have to pay more attention to detail, you have a kind of snowball effect – and this is part of the improvement of the last six or seven months.”
The remarks made by Vasseur mirrored those made by Damon Hill while he saw Verstappen compete at Imola. After observing the Red Bull driver veer off course four times in practice on Friday, the 1996 F1 winner said he thought the Dutchman was uneasy about having real competitors once more.
“The other teams are catching up,” stated the Sky Sports analyst. That is unquestionably the case. People will inevitably bridge the distance, despite Max’s comfortable edge during the past couple of seasons. When you feel uneasy with the tempo, it is subjective.
“You don’t need to push the automobile if you’re ahead of everyone by two or three tenths. Is it what we’re witnessing right now? Is Max being forced to take more things out of the car than he can because other people are closing up? You are actually beginning to witness the pinnacle of Red Bull’s performance, and they are scouring the globe for more. There will undoubtedly be competition.”
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