Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team engage in pit stop practice.
Frustrated with the performance of his RB20 around the Imola circuit in practice, Damon Hill wonders if Max Verstappen’s troubles were the result of Red Bull’s rivals “coming” for them.
Max Verstappen had an incident and complaint-fueled day out at the Imola circuit on Friday as the reigning World Champion recorded several off-track moments and voiced his frustrations to his stand-in race engineer Tom Hart.
Damon Hill: Is that what we are seeing now?
Verstappen expressed his frustration during Friday’s running, going from grip complaints to expressing his disappointment with Lewis Hamilton’s driving. He finished in seventh place, 0.541s behind Charles Leclerc.
For the driver who admits he doesn’t want to fight, he wants to win by 20 seconds, it was not a good day.
However, considering McLaren’s recent victory in Miami and Charles Leclerc’s impressive performance in the upgraded Ferrari SF-24 during Friday’s practice sessions, Hill speculates whether Verstappen and Red Bull’s difficulties are a result of their competitors narrowing the margin.
“The other teams are making progress and closing the gap. There’s no doubt about it,” affirmed the 1996 World Champion during the Sky F1 interview.
Max has been enjoying a comfortable advantage for the past few seasons, but it is inevitable that others will narrow the gap. When you feel uneasy about the speed, it is all relative.
“If you possess a lead of two or three-tenths over your competitors, there’s no need to exert excessive force on the vehicle.”
“Are we witnessing Max being forced to extract more from the car than he is capable of due to others catching up?”
“Are you beginning to witness the true potential of Red Bull’s ultimate performance, leaving them puzzled and eager to discover even greater heights?”
He stated, “There is certainly a forthcoming competition.”
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Max Verstappen takes frustration out on Lewis Hamilton in FP2 incident at Imola
A bad day or a hangover from Miami?
According to his colleague Naomi Schiff, it is possible that Verstappen’s recent performance decline could be attributed to a lingering effect from the Miami Grand Prix, where he was defeated by Lando Norris in a head-to-head battle following a Safety Car restart.
Due to the timely intervention of the Safety Car, Norris was granted a complimentary pit stop, positioning himself in front of Verstappen for the restart. Taking full advantage of this opportunity, he quickly distanced himself from the current championship frontrunner.
Crossing the finish line, he secured victory with a seven-second lead over Verstappen, who admitted that the McLaren had the upper hand in terms of speed throughout the day.
Schiff stated that there have been numerous grip, feeling, and understanding issues raised by complaints.
I’m curious if this is simply a result of having a bad day or if it stems from their previous challenges in Miami.
There was discussion about the possibility of floor damage resulting from the collision with the bollard, as Lando raced away from Max with an eight-second lead.
Furthermore, the pace was impressively fast. I would like to express my hope that they manage to resolve any issues before tomorrow’s qualifying session. However, it is quite refreshing to witness a different individual leading the pack, providing a pleasant change.
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