Breaking:Max Verstappen blamed for… Read more
Former Formula 1 team principal Gian Carlo Minardi has suggested that Max Verstappen is largely to blame for the continued struggles of Red Bull’s other drivers. His comments come amid ongoing issues with the team’s driver lineup, which has seen several drivers fail to match Verstappen’s performance on the track. Most recently, Liam Lawson was replaced by Yuki Tsunoda after just two races in the Red Bull seat, with the New Zealand driver failing to score a single point.
Max Verstappen, who has dominated Formula 1 in recent years, has won four consecutive world championships with Red Bull. His remarkable consistency and skill have made him the clear leader of the team. In the opening races of the current season, Verstappen has continued his impressive form, finishing second and fourth. However, his success has been contrasted by the ongoing difficulties faced by his teammates.
Over the years, several drivers have struggled to match Verstappen’s pace, including Daniel Ricciardo, Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly, and Sergio Perez. Each of them faced challenges in adapting to the car, which has often been tailored specifically to Verstappen’s driving style. Albon, for instance, has previously spoken about how difficult it was to compete in a car designed to suit Verstappen’s preferences, suggesting that it left little room for his own style. Lawson, who had entered this season with high expectations, has become the latest example of a driver who has struggled to make an impact in the Red Bull seat, prompting the team to switch him out for Tsunoda after just two races.
Minardi, whose eponymous F1 team was purchased by Red Bull in 2006, believes the issue stems from Verstappen’s unique driving style, which has made it challenging for other drivers to adapt and perform at a high level. In his view, Verstappen’s dominance has effectively reduced Red Bull to having just one competitive driver on the grid. “Red Bull has quite a different problem, if we can call it that, in the sense that it finds itself once again racing with only one driver, Max Verstappen,” Minardi said. He added that it’s “hard to imagine a different explanation” for the team’s current situation, given the constant cycle of driver changes and the inability of Verstappen’s teammates to match his performance.
The ongoing struggles of Red Bull’s other drivers underscore a broader challenge within the team: the difficulty of building a car that suits the specific needs of one driver while still allowing others to be competitive. Verstappen’s success has been a defining feature of the team’s recent dominance, but it has also left Red Bull with a situation where they are constantly searching for a second driver capable of achieving similar results.
