Different Verstappen expected in Melbourne

A different Max Verstapppen will step into the car in Melbourne according to Helmut Marko. Photo / Supplied

Having proclaimed after the Saudi Arabian GP that he wasn’t in F1 to finish second, World Champion Max Verstappen received a fair share of criticism from those who questioned both his attitude and the race result.

With his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez winning the race from pole position, whilst Verstappen started 15th due to a driveshaft failure in qualifying, questions were asked about where Verstappen’s now renowned ability to hunt down any challenger and put them away, was.

But those scratching their heads about his performance once he had got to within 5 seconds of Perez’s lead, and then failed to advance from there, have overlooked a few facts. Whereas Perez was in front and could control his pace, and therefore the race, Max spent half of it just getting within challenging distance. In the process, he would have taken more out of his tyres than Checo, and then he had concerns that he might have another driveshaft failure as he suffered in qualifying.

Helmut Marko, who attends all the races as a Red Bull adviser, has given another explanation for what some saw as an indifferent performance from a driver who has won 10 of his last 13 starts.

“Max was not 100 per cent fit, but he is doing everything he can to return to maximum performance,” Marko told F1-Insider. “That’s why we’ll see a different Verstappen again in Australia.”

Verstappen was late arriving at Saudi Arabia due to a stomach ailment and operating at “about 80 per cent” according to Marko, who confirmed that New Zealander Liam Lawson was on hand to compete had Max not been able to.

That led to questions being asked about Daniel Ricciardo’s role, as most assumed he is the first reserve driver but, in fact, Ricciardo will not be present at all of the races, although he will be in Melbourne. So good for Lawson, who will race in the Super Formula Championship in Japan later in the year, to know he is high on the Red Bull reserve driver list.

Former champion, and now Sky sports commentator, Nico Rosberg, upset the Verstappen entourage when he criticised Max on air for skipping a post–qualifying Red Bull meeting, suggesting he was brassed off with the mechanical problem he had in qualifying. Not so said the team. He had been allowed to leave early to help with his recovery from his illness.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner says his team is often portrayed as the “bad guys” and believes the target on the team’s back gets bigger as it enjoys more success.

“If we had a British driver like a certain team in Brackley. We are too easily seen as the bad guys,” he said. He says the budget cap breach “tainted us”.

“These things get used by your rivals. We had one of them contact our sponsors and partners making suggestions that we would be bringing their brands into disrepute. That was just underhand.”

“My wife has always said to me a pat on the back is only six inches from a kick up the a**e. This is like Kardashians on wheels. As long as you are comfortable with the decisions you are taking. That’s how I live my life.”

“You can guarantee the others will be scheming, ‘how can we slow them down.’ It’s part of the game. Having lived through it before you become more seasoned in how to ride it out.”

He knows he has got two great drivers, and praised the performance of Perez in Saudi Arabia. But he is not looking for anyone else to replace either driver, even though the media has been speculating that Lewis Hamilton, who is out of his Mercedes contract at year-end, might be tempted to change teams.

“I think what Lewis has achieved in F1 is second to none,” he told Sky news. “But we’re happy with the drivers we have, they’re committed as a pair for not only this season but the next season as well.”

“So I can’t see where we would be able to accommodate Lewis. But I’m sure they [Mercedes] are going to sort their issues out, and we’re certainly not writing them off.”

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was asked how long it will take his team to get back to the front.

“I think the length is probably between six and 12 months because that’s the time it really took us last year to figure out what was actually happening with the car,” he told Motorsport.com. “It’s just, we’ve just got to get our act together and, if we fundamentally understand where we need to put the car, then the steps are going to be large. But we need to be perfect.”

“We’re just two races in this year, but is it realistic when we look at the gaps? No, it’s not. But, we just want to give it all we have and see what the outcome of that is. We’ve been able to catch up a lot last year with a car that was bouncing way too much, and that in a way was overshadowing everything.”

Former team owner Eddie Jordan, questions whether Hamilton can win an eighth championship given the “ridiculous” speed Verstappen has.

“He adores and loves his racing, and remember, he’s been doing this since 5 or 6 years of age so I don’t know where he gathers up the total commitment every weekend, to gather up the excitement to keep doing it time and time again.”

“So I would forgive him if he decided to stop. If he decides to go ahead, I want to see that he has at least a chance to fight for races because that eighth World Championship has to be in the back of his mind.”

“He knows he’s equalled what Michael Schumacher has, but let’s be very clear about this. We look into the future, if everything stays well with Max, and I’m hoping that it will be both mentally, physically and everything to do with the car, then Max is going to hit 10 World championships because he’s that young and he’s that good and you know what he’s like, how fast he is. He’s just ridiculous, how good he is.”

Former Williams and Ferrari team manager, and now a renowned journalist, Peter Windsor, says Hamilton will suffer due to his car’s performance.

“Last year was the shock of the car, the porpoising, how difficult it was to drive and that was the sort of universal thing,” Windsor said.

George Russell got the better of Lewis Hamilton in Saudi Arabia. Photo / Don Kennedy

“But now you’ve got George [Russell] getting the best from the car, the car’s not porpoising anymore -it’s not physically as difficult to drive as it was last year but its obviously not a quick car in the Red Bull sense of the word.”

“Lewis has got to dig unbelievably deep now to keep his motivation and to be the racer that he is.”

Two-time world champion Emerson Fittipaldi was impressed with Perez’s pace in Saudi Arabia, saying he showed himself to be a “fast and tough racer.”

“For the fans, it would be great if we could see those two [meaning Max and Checo] fighting for the championship.”

But you sense Red Bull would be worried about that prospect, as they were when Verstappen decided to go for fastest lap on the last lap. What was also worrying was the 10-second time penalty initially imposed on Fernando Alonso for his jackman touching the car with the jack, while serving a penalty. Alonso was upset with the FIA for imposing the time penalty after the race finished, meaning had it been imposed when the incident occurred, he would have had 35 laps to make up the time penalty.

Aston Martin sought a review of the decision, producing video evidence of seven different instances where cars, serving penalties, were touched by a jack, without being penalised. The decision to demote Alonso was reversed, and he had his 100th podium. There will be a meeting of the FIA in Melbourne to discuss what constitutes “working on the car”.

“I am happy in the end with the result tonight and our second podium,” Alonso said after the revised decision “We showed that we can be the second fastest team and we had good pace throughout the race. It was my mistake at the start with the position on the grid, but we pushed to make up that time. I‘m looking forward to Australia next.”

The last Red Bull victory in Melbourne was in 2011 with Sebastian Vettel. Verstappen’s best result in six starts in Melbourne is third, in 2019. Perez was second last year to Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, while Alonso has five podiums, including a win in 2006. Could he win again, 17 years after that victory? Not if the Red Bulls have the reliability to match their speed.