Jos Verstappen has once again voiced his frustration with Red Bull after his son, Max Verstappen, was outpaced by Lando Norris at the Dutch Grand Prix. The McLaren driver’s dominant performance left Red Bull struggling to keep up on the Zandvoort circuit, leading to renewed criticism from the elder Verstappen.
Max Verstappen initially took the lead at his home Grand Prix after a strong start, overtaking Norris. However, it quickly became evident that McLaren had the superior pace. Norris reclaimed the lead on lap 18 and gradually extended his advantage, eventually finishing nearly 23 seconds ahead of Verstappen. Despite his best efforts, Max had to settle for second place, a result that underscored Red Bull’s waning dominance in the 2024 F1 season.
Jos Verstappen did not hold back in his critique, urging Red Bull to reflect on their recent performance decline. Speaking to De Telegraaf, the former F1 driver expressed his dissatisfaction: “Maybe I shouldn’t say it, but I’m doing it anyway. The fact that you have to go back to the car from the beginning of this year says enough. They just don’t have it right here at the moment. I think they should take a good look in the mirror.”
He added, “Max knew this was coming – he just didn’t have a chance. This way, it’s going to be really tough the rest of the year. Max is doing everything he can but doesn’t have the material to finish it. It was already exceptional that he qualified second.”
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has been cautioning that the performance gap would narrow as their rivals continued to develop their cars. After the Zandvoort race, Horner acknowledged that McLaren was “in a different league” during the event.
“We did everything we could and Max converted P2 into a lead, but they were in a different league,” Horner admitted. “I think we’ve learned a lot of lessons this weekend that have been really valuable, and that was a solid drive from Checo [Perez]. Time to digest what’s happened here, damage limitation with P2.”
Horner emphasized the need for Red Bull to analyze their recent performance issues. “We need to understand where the deficit is. I think we’ve learned quite a lot this weekend, but you could see the pace that they [McLaren] had at this track was outstanding. So we need to understand how we can improve performance on our car.”
With McLaren’s resurgent form, Red Bull now faces increasing pressure to maintain their lead in both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships. Horner expressed confidence in the team’s ability to respond, stating, “With the pace that they had today, nothing is secure. We still have a comfortable lead in the drivers’, but in the constructors’, another chunk of points has come off again today. We’re going to have to respond, and I’m confident that we’ve got the strength in depth to do that.”
