Max Verstappen comes to the Saudi Arabian GP from a difficult Bahrain outing. In an uncharacteristic race for Red Bull, Verstappen found himself scrapping away at the lower end of the points. The Dutchman secured sixth only after a last-lap pass on Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in Bahrain.
When asked on media day ahead of the Saudi Arabian GP if Red Bull’s issues were quick fixes, Verstappen alluded to exploring and trying different setups on the car to find the right balance.
“I think we’ve experienced enough to focus on this year and next year. But naturally, we’re still trying things with the car. Not even bringing parts to the car, just setup-wise and other things that we can improve. It’s constantly trying to improve the car. That’s what we’ll try to do again this weekend.” Verstappen expressed.
When asked about Red Bull’s expectations from Jeddah, Verstappen mentioned he was looking for a stronger weekend to last week’s Bahrain GP.
“I hope a bit better than Bahrain,” Verstappen said. “A few more high-speed corners, different tarmac. I hope that we can be a bit more competitive and maybe a bit more in the middle between the two races potentially.”
The Dutchman also expected Red Bull to target improving their corner entry and corner speeds into Jeddah. Verstappen also anticipated the tarmac at Jeddah to be more tolerant to the Red Bull’s traits.
“Well, we struggled a bit with the balance. Entry to mid-corner balance is not where I want it to be. So we’ll try to fix that and improve that. How much we can fix that here, I don’t know, but hopefully the tarmac also helps a bit with that.”
Verstappen on his 2024 Saudi Arabian GP win, and the challenge of Jeddah
One year ago, Verstappen roared to a dominant Saudi Arabian GP win around Jeddah’s streets. The Dutchman was comfortably class of the field, grabbing pole on Friday before dominating the race.
When asked if he prefers the dominant win or a more challenging run to victory, Verstappen voiced his enjoyment for the circuit’s challenging races.
“Last year was great. I enjoy this track. It’s very challenging. It’s tough, anti-clockwise — and in the race as well your neck really feels it here,” Verstappen said.
“It’s very hard to know, of course, how we’re going to perform this year, but this year has been a little bit more difficult than the start that we had last year and the year before,” the Dutchman commented.
“Nevertheless, I enjoyed last year and the year before when we were really competitive and dominated races. At the same time now, it can be a bit frustrating, but on the other hand it’s also quite enjoyable in a way — the challenges that are out there and trying to improve the situation.”
With Pirelli bringing compounds one step softer compared to last year, Verstappen cautioned from going in with any assumptions.
“In general here it’s always been a bit like a one-stop race. And I think there’s always a bit more going on when you try and have maybe a two-stop or whatever. But let’s see first how the tyres are going to hold up. It’s going to be quite warm as well to drive.”
Verstappen shuts down speculation on future after Bahrain outing
The atmosphere at Red Bull remained tense after the Bahrain GP weekend. Scenes post-race showed Red Bull supremo Helmut Marko in a heated conversation with Verstappen’s manager Raymond Vermeulen. Verstappen’s race was also exacerbated by uncharacteristic slow pit stops from the Red Bull pit crew.
While intense speculation remains, Verstappen attempted to brush it off, instead looking at it as a normal conversation about the events of the race.
“I think, to my knowledge, they were having just a conversation about everything, which I think is allowed. Now, if someone picks up on it, people can always see it in their own way — how people are discussing things.”
“But I think we were all left frustrated with the result and, of course, the things that went wrong in the race. I think that’s where my manager Raymond and Helmut spoke about it — and even Christian came along as well. So they all had a conversation. I think that should be allowed. We all care at the end of the day. We care about the team, we care about the people, we care about results. I think that’s quite normal.”
Post the heated debrief, rumours ahead of the weekend even intended to speculate if Verstappen’s future at Red Bull remained uncertain. The Dutchman’s contract also includes an exit clause if he drops out of the top 2 in the standings.
While rumours have linked Verstappen to Aston Martin, McLaren, and even Mercedes, Verstappen intended to focus on the task at hand.
“Honestly, a lot of people are talking about it, except me. Like I said before, I just want to focus on my car, work with the people in the team. That’s the only thing that I’m thinking about in Formula 1 at the moment. I’m very relaxed,” Verstappen said.
