Verstappen grumbles:

“Maybe I’ll have to do it myself in future!”

Max Verstappen

(Bild: Associated Press)

Max Verstappen rages against his own team after the Hungarian disaster ++ The house is in trouble at Red Bull ++ Revenge is on the cards for Sunday in Belgium!

Max hissed at his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase via pit radio, berated the team's strategy, gave snippy answers to journalists and told his critics: "They can fuck off!" - the head bull saw red, Verstappen experienced a race to forget in Hungary!

"Maybe our strategy department was on vacation!"
This, which the team also had to admit afterwards, was primarily the result of the wrong strategy - the Dutchman stayed on the track twice longer than the competition and was undercut twice. The hoped-for advantage of fresher tires towards the end did not materialize because overtaking was more difficult than the team had predicted. "Maybe our strategy department was on vacation - maybe I'll have to do it myself in future," raged Verstappen.

"Max isn't used to having to fight hard!"
The world champion suddenly looks like he did before his dominant period: aggressive and irritable, no longer so controlled and unassailable, his nerves are on edge. No wonder: the 26-year-old recently experienced three races without a win in a row at the end of the 2021 season, the updates to the car are not working as well as hoped, and his lead in the drivers' championship over Lando Norris has shrunk to 76 points. "Max is not used to this, we are not used to the fact that you have to fight really hard, that we have opponents," says Red Bull's Head of Motorsport Helmut Marko.

"The lead is not reassuring, but it's there!"
The 81-year-old tried to calm the waves after the race, sought a conversation with Max and says: "We are leading in both world championships, it's not as if all is lost. The lead is not reassuring, but it's there." Although he is also aware: "We have to work harder, more has to come. We can't allow ourselves any mistakes, otherwise the McLaren will be there."

The last Grand Prix before the summer break takes place at Spa-Francorchamps on Sunday. Verstappen has won three times at his almost-home race - mom Sophie is Belgian - and Red Bull has celebrated double victories there in the last two years. Only one of these would quickly put the house back on an even keel. And secure Sergio Pérez's cockpit further. On Monday, the Red Bull management will meet in England to discuss the Mexican's future. He finished seventh in Hungary, taking the maximum after a botched qualifying session. Nevertheless, the signs are pointing to a separation.