Max Verstappen could do little more than damage limitation at the Italian GP. Despite their best efforts, Red Bull have failed to prevent their ongoing decline in the pecking order. The RB20 continues to lose ground in the Championship, with the team unable to address the car’s unfavourable characteristics.
Verstappen downplays title chances unless Red Bull can improve the RB20
Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Lewis Hamilton, and now Charles Leclerc have all outscored Max Verstappen over the last five races.
The fact that both McLarens, one Mercedes and one Ferrari, are now securing better results than the Dutchman is evidence of the dire situation at Milton Keynes.
Not only are their chances in the constructors’ Championship quickly vanishing, but it is becoming harder for Verstappen to defend the drivers’ title.
Red Bull’s immediate rivals have made consistent progress in recent months, whilst upgrades have been few and far between for the Austrian outfit.
In the aftermath of a disappointing Italian GP, Max Verstappen gave a blunt assessment of the situation.
“At the moment, both championships are not realistic. It’s up to the team to come up with lot of changes with the car.
“Because we basically went from a very dominant car to an undrivable car in the space of, what, six to eight months.
“In the beginning, we could really say that it was track-specific.
“But I think it’s clear now that no matter what track we go to, we have a hard time everywhere.
“I would say that we have not been the fastest in the last few races.”
Red Bull’s window of opportunity
Although retaining the team’s Championship is increasingly unrealistic for Red Bull, Max Verstappen has a big enough buffer in the drivers’ standings to buy the team some time.
After the upcoming double-header in Baku and Singapore, there is a one-month gap until round 19 of the season. This gives Christian Horner’s team an opportunity to work on upgrades and put themselves in better shape for the final five rounds of the season.
Of course, this is all hypothetical. Red Bull have failed to produce any successful upgrades since the Japanese GP five months ago.
It is up to the factory in Milton Keynes, therefore, to get a grasp on their problems and respond to the progress being achieved elsewhere in the paddock.
