Max Verstappen must be wondering if he’s entered an alternative world of Formula One in recent weeks. The world champion hasn’t won since Barcelona and the McLaren cars now look quicker than the RB20 and at a variety of circuit layouts.

The upcoming Belgium Grand Prix with its regular race weekend format was to be an opportunity for Red Bull to understand better the upgrades it brought to Hungary last time out.

Yet Max heads into the weekend having already used four internal combustion engines (ICE), turbochargers, MGU-Hs and MGU-K units, as well as two control electronics and energy stores, which places him on the brink of requiring extra components over and above the FIA specified allowance for the season.

 

 

 

Verstappen grid drop in Spa

Red Bull has decided to fit to the world champions car a new internal combustion engine for the Spa weekend which immediately sees Verstappen suffer a ten place grid drop from wherever he qualifies.

The mountainous circuit in the Ardennes region is a favourite track for teams to take power unit penalties, given that overtaking here is much easier than at other venues.

While Max currently enjoys a 76 point lead over Lando Norris that will surely be reduced further as the teams head into the summer break.

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Red Bull ban Max’s late night SIM racing

Max Verstappen was criticised for his pre-Grand Prix nocturnal activities following the Hungarian Grand Prix, and having sounded out of sorts on the radio all afternoon speculation quickly turned to whether this was due to the worlds champion having been SIM racing until 3am the morning of the race in Budapest.

When questioned about his state of mind after criticising the team’s strategy and the car and then a collision with Lewis Hamilton during the closing laps of the Grand Prix, Verstappen was remorseless saying that his criticism can just “fuck off.”

Writing in his Speekweek column, Dr. Helmut Marko is candid: “Max Verstappen was rather thin-skinned this weekend, and of course it didn’t take long for criticism to arise – no wonder, given that he spends half the night playing sim racing. I have to say this: In Imola, he didn’t go to bed until three o’clock in the morning after a sim racing session – and then won the Grand Prix. 

“Max has a different sleep rhythm and he had his seven hours of sleep. His late-night sim race on the Hungarian weekend only came about because a driver in his team cancelled. Nevertheless, we have agreed that he will no longer run sim races this late in future.”

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Marko blames Hamilton for crash

The Red Bull consultant addresses the radio messages following Verstappen’s incident with Hamilton and portions blame fairly equally between Max and his race engineer: “One thing led to another, emotions ran high, with comments that were inappropriate, to put it politely, from the race engineer and also from Max,” Marko added.

Yet he believes the collision with Hamilton was the single fault of the Mercedes driver: “And then there was that final action, when Hamilton and Verstappen were lapping a Williams and Max spotted a gap, immediately went into that hole and then there was a collision.

“I spoke to Verstappen about this: Of course, the wheels of his car locked when braking, but he would have made it through the corner, so there was no question of him losing control of his car. Max was ahead, but Hamilton turned in, and everyone could see what happened.

“So we ended up in fifth place, although we must not forget that in terms of pure speed we were just behind McLaren.”

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Helmut hints again at Max leaving Red Bull

Insider-F1 reports Marko also claiming: “Max is really angry. We now have to make sure that his mood improves again. Our car has to improve again. Unfortunately, the updates didn’t work the way we wanted them to.”

And while Dr. Marko’s future with Red Bull has been agreed to the end of 2026, the 81 year old Austrian still hinted at why Max would consider leaving for another team. “Now it’s all about improving the car again and giving Max a good feeling,” he said.

“Then he will no longer have any reason to think about changing [teams]. Things will calm down again. He is the best driver in Formula 1, he makes the difference. He also knows that we know that,” Marko concluded.

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Red Bull boycott of SKY F1

Red Bull are believed to be on the verge of reinstating boycott of all Sky F1 presenters and interviews again. This last happened after Ted Kravitz implied Max had robbed Lewis Hamilton for the 2021 world championship in Austin Texas 2022. At the subsequent Mexican Grand Prix, all Red Bull Racing employees blanked the Sky F1 team for the entire weekend.

Now Kravitz has upset the world champion driver and team again. In his notebook following the Hungarian Grand Prix, Kravitz gives his opinion that the crash between Hamilton and Verstappen was in fact on Max, not as the stewards had decided it to be – as a racing incident. They did note that while Lewis did not move under braking, he could have done more to prevent the collision.

“They [Red Bull] call it a racing incident,” summarised Kravitz. “That’s what Red Bull does at the moment when it’s Max Verstappen’s fault. But other than that, everyone calls it Max Verstappen’s fault, because he braked and he would have shot straight on if Lewis had not steered into him. Or well, Lewis didn’t steer into him. Lewis was there and then Max went over his wheel.”

The video has been reviewed in Milton Keynes and the senior leadership is unhappy that Sky may once again be using a trope when assessing Red Bull’s actions.

Red Bull simulations predict Verstappen SHOCK in Spa

 

 

 

 

Marko books London flight for showdown talks with Horner

Dr. Helmut Marko is a controversial figure in the Formula One paddock. The 81 yea old Austrian is frank with his opinions regardless of politics, something his position as friend of Red Bull founder Didi Mateschitz guaranteed him until recently.

Following the death of the Energy Empire’s billionaire founder, there have been rumblings in the Red Bull Racing parent company as a power struggle broke out between the Austrian minority shareholders and the Thai co-founder of the organisation.

When asked in China to explain the players involved in the power struggle, Marko declined to get involved stating: “That’s politics that I’m not concerned with at the moment,” he insisted. “It’s all about winning the next world title.”  READ MORE