A tense weekend for Max Verstappen at the Hungarian Grand Prix reveals more cracks at Red Bull.
Red Bull have had a hard time since December 2023, when cracks originally began to show. A few months after this, team Principal Christian Horner faced sexual harassment claims from a former employee. While he was cleared of any wrongdoing despite the evidence being presented, Max Verstappen’s father, Jos Verstappen, highlighted other problems that were beginning to show within the team.
The Loss of Newey
While Verstappen and fellow teammate Sergio Pérez remained loyal to their base, Chief Technology Officer Adrian Newey announced his resignation. Despite this reportedly having no correlation to the drama at Red Bull, it was a loss that has been felt ever since and has only added to the heightened cracks beginning to show at Red Bull.
Newey has been with the team for almost 20 years and has 13 World Championship titles to show for this dedication. He has long been credited for Red Bull’s dominance since the 2022 season, which saw them unstoppable with 20+ second gaps to other teams. In 2023, the RB19 claimed 21 of the 22 Grand Prix wins, which placed the car under the role of the most successful in F1 history.
However, this season has underlined the downfall of their dominance since the start of the ground effect era. There has been seven race winners thus far, six of which are non-Red Bull drivers. Despite the RB20 being a force to reckon with, Pérez is yet to add his name to this list, which contains both Ferrari, Mercedes, and McLaren drivers.
On Track Cracks
These cracks are not just showing off of the track for Red Bull. On track, Pérez has significantly underperformed since his contract extension at the start of June. He is expected to remain with the team until the end of 2026. However, there is talk of Red Bull considering a switch as early as the current season thanks to performance-related clauses within his agreement. There is a 141-point difference between himself and Verstappen as of the Hungarian Grand Prix. It is important to remember that they drive the same car.
For Verstappen, there are also clear problems revealed through radio messages and post-race reactions. The close gap between teams has seen Red Bull fail to respond as they should.
One has to wonder if the Mercedes rumours that have swirled since seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton announced his departure to Ferrari from 2025 onwards hold any truth. If the cracks at Red Bull continue to show, Mercedes CEO and Team Principal Toto Wolff could swoop in to offer him more.
Perez’s Future
Perhaps the largest problem the team have is regarding Sergio Pérez. The Mexican driver has scored just 11 points in the last five races compared to Verstappen who has added 94 to the team’s total. They are under pressure from McLaren who prove they have the pace each weekend with both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. The points scored by both the Briton and the Australian have seen them close the gap. With this, for Red Bull to retain their Drivers and Constructors titles, securing points is vital from here on out.
However, this is proving difficult to achieve for the once-supreme team. At the Silverstone Grand Prix, Pérez spun out of Qualifying, breaching his car in the gravel in Q1. He finished P17 with Verstappen P2. Between Silverstone and Hungary, he worked with a dedicated team at the Red Bull factory to work on this issue. Using the simulator, he aimed to improve his car setup into a window where he was comfortable. It seemed that this had worked in Hungary when he finished fourth in Free Practice 2, just two-tenths off Verstappen.
A mere day later, he repeated his earlier mistake from Britain. He lost control of his car at Turn 9 which led to him in the barrier again in Q1. While he began P16 and finished P7, a driver of his supposed calibre and in the RB20 should not be placed into these situations to begin with.
The Red Bull Seat
Red Bull have remained clear in the need for Pérez to improve his performance. Instead, his form has been on a downward spiral. Naturally, the question facing the Austrian team is which of its drivers would be chosen to replace him this season or beyond.
Previous tradition has seen them turn to their sister team, now referred to as RB, for replacement drivers. In 2016 Verstappen replaced Daniil Kyvat and in 2018, Alex Albon replaced Pierre Gasly. All four switched places between the main team and the sister team. One option for them in 2024 are Daniel Ricciardo, who has also underperformed since arriving back to his Red Bull roots. The other is Yuki Tsunoda, who despite his consistent performances this season, does not seem to be in the replacement mix.
This leaves reserve driver Liam Lawson for the seat. Last year, Lawson impressed after a five-race stint for Alpha Tauri after he replaced a ruled-out Ricciardo due to injury. He famously knocked Verstappen out of Qualifying at Singapore. He also recently took part in a day test at Silverstone in the RB20. It is understood that his lap times met the benchmarks set by the team.
Verstappen’s Dissatisfaction
The Hungarian Grand Prix also revealed Verstappen’s displeasure and further cracks at Red Bull began to show. He Qualified P3 on Saturday behind McLaren’s 1-2. And during the race, he realised early on in the race that he did not have the pace to catch up.
On the final stint, he had dropped to P5. He felt that P3 was achievable on his fresh set of tyres. To reach this, he had to get by Leclerc and Hamilton. However, after he overtook Leclerc, he tangled with Hamilton at Turn 1 with eight laps to go. He subsequently dropped back down to P5, where he finished.
Both Verstappen and Hamilton were placed under investigation by the FIA stewards for the clash. No further action was taken. This came after his collision with Norris at the Austrian Grand Prix, which saw Norris DNF as a result of the damage sustained.
He had plenty to say post-race, which included a sweary rant that told critics where to go. He also explained his behaviour over his radio, which saw him also frequently swear at Red Bull while he fought back at their strategy mishaps.
The Dutchman believes that his P5 finish was solely due to the wrong strategy calls. These put him on the back foot. He had to constantly fight people to overtake, which did not work in his favour as his tyres overheated.
What Next?
Pérez has one remaining race in Belgium before the Summer break to impress Red Bull. Perhaps it is Red Bull who must impress Verstappen.
