Max Verstappen has rubbished the long-standing theory that suggests Red Bull has built the team’s Formula 1 cars suited to the Dutchman’s driving style.
Since the latter years of the turbo-hybrid era of the sport, a singular theory has underscored Verstappen’s prowess on track that has culminated in four consecutive World Championships for him between 2021 and 2024: that the Red Bull cars are built around his preferences.
The fate of his team-mates, like Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, and Sergio Perez, during this time has not helped quell such suggestions.
But this season is the first time in a while that, though Verstappen has still been the leading force at the Milton Keynes-based squad, scoring 187 out of the team’s 194 points tally, he has been struggling for consistent results.
The 27-year-old currently sits third in the Drivers’ Championship, 97 points adrift of the leading McLaren pair, and his championship ambitions have all but evaporated.
With the DNA of the RB21 being similar to that of the RB19 and RB20, Verstappen has finally broken his silence on what has allowed him to excel when his team-mates have failed.
“I just adapt to what I’ve got. It’s not what I like, it’s just what I have,” he told former Top Gear host Chris Harris on the Ford Performance YouTube channel.
“So I have to try and drive to it because that’s the fastest way to go around the track, but it’s not what I personally would like.
“I’d like different bits on the car.”
What makes Verstappen a “perfectionist”
Since 2019, when he won three Grands Prix in a season for the first time, Verstappen has gone on to score a tally of 65 F1 wins so far.
All this while, his team-mates, with the exception of Perez, have struggled to secure even a single victory alongside him.
And although Verstappen says he has simply been adapting to the inherent characteristics of the car Red Bull have given him year on year, he divulged the inner motivation that has helped him cope with periods of instability, both inside and outside of the car.
“I’m not doing it to show the people what I’m capable of,” he asserted.
“I’m doing it because I want to be the best with myself.
“I’m quite… in that sense [I’m] quite a perfectionist, it’s never good enough and if I can, of course, come out of the car and say to myself ‘that’s good enough’, it’s never good enough, but pretty good.”
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