Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, the 3-time Formula 1 champion, has been accused of driving slowly during the Dutch Grand Prix. The Belgian-Dutch F1 star recently finished in second place behind Lando Norris at the Circuit Zandvoort.
This was the first time Verstappen lost at home in his last four races, a defeat that didn’t sit too well with Sky F1 pundit Martin Brundle. It led to the former British motorsports driver wondering aloud if Verstappen had purposely taken his foot off the gas. “I would hazard a guess that that was not as fast as Max could go,” he said.
Verstappen was almost 23 seconds behind Norris when he crossed the finish line. It led to the world’s number-one ranked racer finishing with 18 points. This was the largest victory margin this season, suggesting that McLaren will be looking for both titles in 2024.
Meanwhile, Martin Brundle wondered whether Verstappen had slowed down intentionally during the race to spark his trailing team into action. “He knew he couldn’t beat Lando and dropping back a bit like that, it’s going to give the factory a hurry up. I’d be pretty sure of that,” the British ex-driver said.
Hours after Brundle’s claims, Red Bull’s Helmut Marko name-checked the British ex-driver and called the assumptions false. “Martin Brundle’s assumption that Max was deliberately driving slowly is incorrect. When he saw that Lando was on the move, he stopped taking risks,” he said. He further explained, “But the difference to (Sergio) Perez was that he was driving with a different setup. We thought that with more downforce, Max would slide less. But it made him vulnerable at top speed, and tyre wear was still high.”
McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari have picked up pace, making the 2024 F1 season extremely exciting. Red Bull has remained winless at the Grand Prix since June. The alarm bells must now be ringing at the Red Bull headquarters in Milton Keynes as they look to come up with a fiery response when F1 action moves to Monza for the prestigious Italian GP.
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