'Max'imum problems, minimum solutions

Verstappen could well miss out on the title if his car doesn't respond in time

Unmitigated skill, streaks of petulance, an uncompromising desire to win, and a tongue which knows not when to stop. These, typically, are the traits the greats imbibe as they push away the cobwebs of old and attempt to become the totem pole for the future.

In the process, they are liable to create an acerbic atmosphere, but it’s all brushed aside because they’re winning and carrying some people along on this journey. When that spree comes to a halt, though, the wheels come apart fast. 

Max Verstappen is experiencing this firsthand.

Verstappen has often danced between individuality and the team’s cause, and come away looking like a champ - three times over. But, now that he doesn’t have the tools to exercise his excellence, he is left looking rather frustrated and he’s directing this towards his team.

Red Bull, as it is, have had administrative concerns strain the team’s dynamics over the last six months. Add a ‘monster’ of a car into the mix, and you can see why Verstappen is ripping his hair out at every press conference.   

But then again, how do you suppose Verstappen feels when seeing a stat sheet which says he has not won a single race in the last six Grands Prix? How do you suppose his mind juxtaposes the current trend of losses with him winning 19 of the 22 races last year?

Oh, and none of this has to do with Verstappen’s ability to drive. 

The Dutchman is still in a league of his own as a driver, but his car - the RB20 - is about as good as a unicycle would be at the Tour de France.

You needn’t look beyond team-mate Sergio Perez to get further confirmation of Red Bull’s predicament.

Verstappen sits on top of the table with 303 points. Perez is seventh with 143, and lest we forget, the Mexican is one hell of a driver.   

“Max has a very unique way of driving,” explains Karun Chandhok, former F1 driver. “He likes a very responsive front end. It’s a little like the set-up which (Michael) Schumacher used to use. The thing with that set-up is that you have to have the talent and the ability to control the car. Most drivers will feel that the back end is sliding in this set-up. The rear ends up feeling unsafe so they opt for a more neutral set-up.

“It’s hard to pinpoint one problem with the car and say ‘this is why they’re losing’. But, I don’t think very many drivers would be able to handle this car the way Verstappen has. Honestly, his talent has kept Red Bull in the game.”

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner was about as clueless in establishing what is going wrong with the car. Thus, his postulation hovered in the territory of ‘bad balance’.

“You can see that we have a disconnection in balance that just isn’t working,” said Horner. “As soon as you end up in that situation, you’re harder on tyres. You end up compensating, you move the balance around, you secure one problem and you create another. So you just end up in a vicious circle.”

Simplification then, Horner insisted, is the way forward. “Perhaps we’ve gone a little too complex and perhaps we need to simplify a few things. When the car is in the (performance) window, it works as predicted or closer to prediction. But that window is so small, that’s what we have to work on. We have to broaden its operating window.”

Chandhok wasn’t sure of what Horner was on about, but he did extend sympathy towards the team, delving into just how difficult it is to gain an advantage in the sport.

“There are over 10,000 (closer to 15,000 really) components in an F1 car and they all have to work in unison to get the result you desire,” says Chandhok.

“And it’s a constantly evolving goalpost because say Red Bull gained two-tenths of a second from last year, the other teams might have gained six-tenths on the second. So you can just use last season’s car and hope for the best. As the car evolves, its characteristics change.”