Max Verstappen dismissed criticism of Red Bull by George Russell following Saturday’s qualifying session at the Hungaroring.
The Williams driver, who out-qualified Verstappen’s team mate Alexander Albon, said “I feel really, really bad for him because he’s being made to look like an idiot and he’s absolutely not” and Red Bull “need to sort it out for him”.Verstappen gave Russell’s comments short shrift: “I think first of all George doesn’t know anything about the team so I think it’s better he just focuses on his car and his performance instead of speaking for someone else.”
However he admitted the team looks set for a tough race after qualifying seventh, six places ahead of Albon.
“It’s definitely not looking great,” he said. “But I hope this is going to be our worst weekend. We’ll hopefully learn a lot from this and rectify a bit of it in the upcoming races.”
“We just don’t have good balance throughout the corner,” he added. “Understeer, oversteer, lack of grip. Not having a lot of top speed as well so everything together just makes it slow.”
Verstappen suspects there is more to the team’s woes than just a car set-up problem.
“I don’t think it’s the set-up because then I would be blaming my engineer which I think is not the case,” he said. “So no, it’s not set-up related.”
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Robbie (@robbie)
18th July 2020, 17:25
Hmm, and at one point on the radio he questioned how the tires were behaving. And of course he could always use a bit more from Honda. Maybe it’s drivability (the pu’s) isn’t quite there right now. Just surprising he says it isn’t setup related, but then again they’ve been so good here you’d think they’d have tons of good setup data to pour over.
Rodber
18th July 2020, 17:42
Max is right you know. Wading into another team’s issues as perceived by you is not the wisest of actions.
BasCB (@bascb)
18th July 2020, 17:48
Well Rodber, Russel said this when the sky crew asked him about the guys he has raced with etc. He mentioned how it feels like Albon is getting a bad deal from the car right now, and that he knows Albon is a really good driver, since he has been racing him for 15 years. And how Russel knows it can feel really bad when your car just is not doing what you want.
I guess on the other hand, we cannot really blame Verstappen for this reaction either, since he was probably asked about “what Russel said” in turn, without the context for hte statement. So it probably felt as if it was meant to be something about the team making Alex life hard or something to Max.
Potsie (@potsie159)
19th July 2020, 9:11
I agree wholeheartedly with your comment BasCB as Russell was responding to Sky’s direct question.
What I don’t fully understand is why they (Sky) were/are really talking Albon’s performances down.
In the first race he was on a strategy that was possible/likely to eventuate in a win, prior to him being knocked off the road in an incident in which the other driver was penalised with both a time penalty and two points on his licence. In the second race he finished fourth, which (as I see it) was only one place below the highest expectation he and his team could have had prior to the race (as the Merc’s are obviously superior).
Yes Albon’s qualifying result in Hungary was worse than expected, but both he and his team mate were not happy at all with the car setup.
Luke S (@joeypropane)
18th July 2020, 17:45
I really find it odd how a top-level F1 team can not get a “baseline” setup from 1 weekend to the next. There can’t be THAT much difference circuit to circuit that a car will go from being completely drivable to “under steering, over steering and lack of grip” in the span of a week.
Fundamental chassis issues are one thing (see HAAS), engine gremlins are another (see Renault), but just turning up with a whole team of incredible smart and experienced engineers, mechanics and mathematicians and going “yeah, well… We don’t know why we’re so much slower this weekend” just seems to go so completely against such a data-driven sport.
It makes me question the accuracy of all these sensors and telemetry read-outs. If there was an issue, the people trained to decipher this importation would spot it and know how to fix it, surely??
praxis (@praxis)
18th July 2020, 17:59
@joeypropane,
F1 seems to be a very complicated sport at times. Sometimes I wonder, whether the demand on technical capacity is really that high or the engineers in Motorsports aren’t as competent as we think of them to be. The mystery, drama and secrecy surrounding the technical aspects don’t help much either.
Then again, what’d a regular software engineer like me understand about engieeers working in the top echelon of Motorsports….
Ipsom
18th July 2020, 19:56
@praxis +1 I even got a similar trail of thought in today’s quali when I saw a mechanic (racing point I think) not fully tightening the tyre warmer from the inner side like the other mechanics, just lazily secured it around
Kobe (@im-a-kobe)
18th July 2020, 19:21
I think it’s important to remember that most of these teams are trying to find tenths, and sometimes hundredths of a second. I feel like they all have baseline setups that get them within a second if the cars theoretical max, and after that is entirely circuit/environment/driver dependent. If a camber change can buy you two tenths in one corner and lose you half a tenth on the straights, you start to see where the setup comes into play. F1 is full of incredibly smart engineers who, while they’re capable of making mistakes, I doubt they’re so disengenous as to claim track-to-track setup changes are important if they truly were not.
Neiana (@neiana)
18th July 2020, 21:11
@joeypropane
Oh, but it can. And quite frankly, if the weather changes — and I don’t mean from rain to dry or vice versa, just how much cloud cover & temperature — it can happen within the span of 20-30 minutes.
Watch just one NASCAR race and listen to the commentary about changing track, then come back to Formula 1. NASCAR doesn’t utilize the same technology so there won’t be as much change, but you still have to contend with things like track temperature, tire temperature, tire wear, fuel load, etc. Then you can have part of the track sitting in the sun for hours and the other part sitting in constant shade which will even make opposite sides of the track completely different.
We just don’t hear as much from F1 because the racing is not anywhere near as close, the tech diminishes a lot of the track changes, and a few other reasons I’m not smart enough to explain.
Blazzz (@blazzz)
19th July 2020, 1:17
I put to you Jenson Button in 2012. While his team mate was winning, he couldn’t setup the car meaning sometimes he got lapped, which is very similar to what is going on with Verstappen and Albon. I think you underestimate just how complex these F1 beasts are and also how much driver confidence translates to laptime.
pastaman (@)
20th July 2020, 19:35
I mean, they only employ hundreds of people and spend over $100m, iT cAnT bE tHaT cOmPlIcAtEd
Bnk
18th July 2020, 18:06
Maybe Max shouldn’t speak for Alex, also given the fact George was expressing some sympathy for Alex. This guy sounds more like a prick race by race.
mystic one (@mysticus)
18th July 2020, 18:07
I think the issue can be described with one word… KARMA!
If you want deeper knowledge about it, ask Alonso, he will tell you a yoke about KARMA :)
It was evident from the first week that KARMA will catch up to them sooner or later…
GtisBetter (@)
18th July 2020, 22:18
Except that’s not how karma works
wsrgo (@wsrgo)
18th July 2020, 18:14
Didn’t Max wade into the Ferrari engine controversy last year?
Robbie (@robbie)
18th July 2020, 18:17
Didn’t everyone?
Chaitanya
18th July 2020, 18:26
I remember only Max was blunt and direct about it.
JohnEver
18th July 2020, 18:48
..and right?
Jeffrey (@jeffreyj)
18th July 2020, 18:59
blunt, direct and perhaps even right, he did wade into another team’s issues. Now that it is his team being the subject though, he’s criticising Russell over it. Does feel hypocrite to me.
Mayrton
18th July 2020, 20:30
But thats because they were competitively affected
David BR (@david-br)
18th July 2020, 19:19
@robbie
:P
Hamilton had regular digs too about Ferrari ‘jet fuel’ etc. too. Thing is, they were all bang on, weren’t they? I remember the Ferrari (fan) denials and ‘outrage’.
Jelle van der Meer (@)
18th July 2020, 19:13
Max actually didn’t wade into Ferrari internal politics like Russell is. Russell is making unfair and unqualified suggestions that Red Bull is deliberately making Albon look bad.
That compared to Max who was asked to comment on Ferrari sudden drop in straight line speed, and his simple reply was “That is what happens if you stop cheating”, something that a few months later got secretly confirmed by the FIA.
David BR (@david-br)
18th July 2020, 19:22
@jelle-van-der-meer Oh right, so Max never made comments last year about Hamilton never having to face a strong team mate? They all do it.
Robbie (@robbie)
18th July 2020, 20:41
@jelle-van-der-meer I think Russell‘s heart was in the right place looking out for someone he is obviously friendly with and has known for a long time. I found his comments moreso sweet than vindictive or accusatory. I was happy to hear confirmation of how good AA is. I think that his wording is just a bit unfortunate as to what it connotes, but ultimately I think there is nothing to this. I don’t perceive how there would be any value whatsoever in RBR curtailing AA for any reason. And I think that is why Max reacted as he has. And Max doesn’t need the help of a curtailed teammate to say he bested his teammate, but as a team member of RBR and family, Max wants to see AA as high up as possible for the good of the whole team. And sure yeah to take points away from Max’s competitors too, as it works. And maximize their revenues in the standings, as it works. There is simply nothing whatsoever to the concept that RBR are making AA look like an idiot. They are professionally and calming trying to solve their issues as are all teams at all times. Max wasn’t on it today either.
As to Max’s comments about Ferrari? Turns out there was something to it after all. He wasn’t commenting on something that was fluff. Max’s comment about LH’s teammates? A mosquito size needle in the grand scheme of things between two of the main competitors if not THE top two competitors in F1. But not an indictment of how Mercedes operates their team, as Russell’s comment I think mostly innocently connoted.
Dan
18th July 2020, 22:36
Max’s response is fine. It’s what we expect from him. Just a little saucy.
I don’t think George meant that the team was trying to subvert Alex, either; Just responding to criticism of a longtime, well-respected colleague.
No need for gasps and pearl-clutching.
Robbie (@robbie)
19th July 2020, 0:03
Lol gasps and pearl-clutching. Love it.
Invisiblekid (@invisiblekid)
19th July 2020, 12:09
This is RB were are talking about here. Deliberately doing something? No. Deliberately not trying their best to fix it? Quite possibly. They have proven time and time again, if your not Max or Seb, your are very much a second thought and it’s your fault.
Archit (@architjain07)
18th July 2020, 19:11
“We just don’t have good balance throughout the corner,” he added. “Understeer, oversteer, lack of grip. Not having a lot of top speed as well so everything together just makes it slow.”
So Max did confirm what Russell just said! Can’t understand why he would rubbish his claims when it is factually correct. Everybody in the paddock knows that RBR this year is twitchy and doesn’t have the operating range as previous years!
erikje
18th July 2020, 19:18
But that was Not what Russell said!
Read his answer on the sky question.
AMG44 (@amg44)
18th July 2020, 19:22
Russel wants to be in the headlines and talked about. And he deserves to be noticed by the big teams now. He is one of the most talented on the grid.
David BR (@david-br)
18th July 2020, 19:25
@amg44 I agree. For me, it’s the right attitude. Prospective teams want to see some ‘attitude’. Winding up rivals is useful when done with finesse.
Nick T.
19th July 2020, 7:18
That angle didn’t occur to me, but you’re right. He’s been criminally unremarked upon. He’s taking a page from Jacques Villeneuve. Soon enough, grandprix.com will replace JV with GR as the source of 80% of their headlines.
baasbas
18th July 2020, 21:12
Lol cranky much :-)
Jimmi Cynic (@jimmi-cynic)
18th July 2020, 21:21
Max wants to channel his inner Rocky: “ADRIAN!!!”
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
18th July 2020, 22:22
Russell touched a nerve perhaps?
don.b
18th July 2020, 22:38
Russell has clearly been discussing things with Albon, it makes you wonder whether the cars at red bull are not be as identical as they should be.
Arnoud van Houwelingen (@kavu)
18th July 2020, 23:27
I think “lost in translation” applies here. George wanted to support his friend but Max was made to believe that George thinks that Alex is not being supported at RBR which is not what George have said. All these journalist are feeding the drivers trying to poke controversity!
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
19th July 2020, 0:19
So what Max is saying is George is completely right but he just shouldn’t say it…
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
19th July 2020, 10:06
with engine mapping more effective than traction control, I can see how a major mistake in mapping could ruin a weekend.
Rui Trindade (@trindade)
19th July 2020, 10:58
Well, in fact, he doesn’t know anything about Red Bull.
Just suspect !!!!
The same as you do and did many times !!!
With many of the teams !!
It is good to taste the poison itself !!
Dave
22nd December 2020, 20:21
Russell just exposed the Red Bull Racing environment