Max Verstappen is facing increased competition in the defence of his world championship. Last year, the Red Bull driver won 19 out of 22 races in the most dominant campaign in F1 history.
Verstappen remains the strong favourite to win what would be his fourth consecutive title this year. After all, he’s taken victory in five of the first eight Grands Prix.
But the events of recent races have still raised hopes of a far more competitive season at the front of the field. Indeed, the Dutchman has already failed to win as many races as he did in the entirety of 2023.
He lost out to McLaren driver Lando Norris at the Miami Grand Prix after an ill-timed safety car handed the Briton a ‘free’ pit stop. Norris emerged in the lead of the race, and then streaked clear of Verstappen after the restart.
Car number one was on course for a comfortable victory at the following race in Emilia Romagna until the closing stages. Norris did a better job of holding onto his tyres and reeled Verstappen in, ultimately finishing just 0.7 seconds adrift.
And last weekend’s race in Monaco was by far Red Bull’s weakest of the season. Verstappen started and finished sixth as his closest championship challenger Charles Leclerc bagged his first win of 2024 for Ferrari.
Fred Vasseur says Max Verstappen is making more mistakes
Verstappen has also allowed some highly uncharacteristic errors to creep into his driving lately. In Miami, he clouted the bollard after running off-track at the turn 14 and 15 chicane, damaging the underbody of his RB20.
He delivered when it mattered at Imola but made multiple mistakes during the practice sessions. And in Monaco, he hit the wall on his second Q3 run, which may have cost him a few spots on the grid even if Leclerc was likely out of reach.
Speaking to Motorsport Week, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur said there have been signs lately that Verstappen is feeling the pressure. He’s no longer looking infallible, and that’s because he doesn’t have the same gap over his competitors.
The Frenchman said: “I don’t want to draw any conclusions on this weekend, but if you have a look on the last two hours of the weekend, I think Max made more mistakes in Imola or went out more in Imola than over the last three seasons.
“I think that as soon as they have to push more, if you stay in your comfort zone for the strategy, you don’t do mistakes and I think they were in this situation.”
Verstappen makes worrying Red Bull prediction for Canadian Grand Prix
As you can see in the table below, Verstappen has only finished one race outside the podium places five times since the start of 2022. That in itself reflects his remarkable consistency, which will stand him in good stead in the championship, but it also makes his Monaco woes a bigger deal.
And worryingly for Red Bull, Verstappen is braced for another difficult weekend in Canada. The track is very different in character, with teams emphasising top speed rather than downforce (as they did in Monaco).
But as a street circuit, it’s also somewhat bumpy. And that could hurt a car that seemed to be striking the ground ‘pretty hard’ in Monte Carlo.
Martin Brundle noticed Verstappen complaining about his Red Bull more than he had for a ‘while’ during a lengthy debrief in the garage. He’ll be pushing the team as hard as ever amid a renewed challenge from their rivals.
All three of F1’s top teams have now introduced their first major upgrades of the new season. It remains to be seen how the next set of developments alters the competitive picture.
The post ‘Have a look’: Fred Vasseur shares the change he’s noticed in Max Verstappen at the last two races appeared first on F1 Oversteer.