MAX VERSTAPPEN MAKES MAJOR DECLARATION OVER BOTH F1 TITLES AFTER ALARMING MONZA DISPLAY

Max Verstappen has said “both championships are not realistic” as things stand from his perspective, after a P6 finish in the Italian Grand Prix.

Verstappen still holds a 62-point lead over Lando Norris heading into the final eight races, while Red Bull’s lead in the Constructors’ Championship was cut to 10 points after a weekend where they appeared to be behind McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes in the competitive order.

Max Verstappen: ‘At the moment, both championships are not realistic’

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher and Sam Cooper

Verstappen labelled the RB20 “undriveable” after qualifying on Saturday at Monza, and he repeated that description of his car after taking sixth place in the race on Sunday.

He spoke at how the team has gone from being “very dominant” to the car being “undriveable” in a short space of time, which is a “very weird” feeling for him to take in.

When asked about his title prospects, Verstappen admitted to media including PlanetF1.com: “At the moment, both championships are not realistic.

“I think I gave everything that I could today. We have to turn it around, and it’s not easy to do that very quickly, and then if we can put that on the car, then it becomes more driveable.”

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In the race, Verstappen was seen hitting his steering wheel in frustration after a six-second pit stop cost him time in the pit lane – a rare occurrence by Red Bull’s high standards in that department – but even still, the reigning World Champion acknowledged the team needs to turn their car “upside down” to be able to get it to his liking.

“It was pretty boring, but we were too slow,” he admitted.

“Pit stop, of course, cost me a bit. I couldn’t run full power for most of the race as well with the engine, because we had a little issue, and I think also strategy wise, we could have done a better job to be at least a little bit more competitive in the fight or whatever.

“It wouldn’t have changed the position, but I think we didn’t do our optimal race.

“I’ve said a lot, and now it’s up to the team to come with a lot of changes with the car, because we basically went from a very dominant car to an undriveable car in the space of, what, six to eight months.

“So that is very weird for me, and need to really turn the car upside down.”

2024-09-01T17:01:38Z dg43tfdfdgfd